Tangled Fates
by Lyssia Rosewind
Summary: When Sanzo and his party stop for the night in a small village, they find themselves blamed for a murder they didn't commit. Who would want to frame them? And who is the mysterious beauty whose fate seems connected to theirs? Please R&R and I'll read your
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki, though I wish I did. Please don't sue me…

It was a dark night, and it had been raining for hours.

Far from any civilization, a tiny village with no name nestled in the mountains. It had no wall around it for protection, and had only one real road that was not even paved. It passed through the center of the little town and spiraled on through the mountains, and it appeared to the entire world as if the little village had just happened to grow on it like a wart.

In the center of the little village stood its one inn, a tiny, ramshackle place that was nevertheless the largest building in the area, having two stories. The inn boasted the only tavern in the village as well, though the tavern, too, had clearly seen better days and, while clean enough, carried the marks of far too many brawls and drunken fights. As usual for a dark, cold, rainy night, it was as busy as it ever got; the weekly poker game was in full swing in one corner, and the usual customers were hard at work getting drunk at the bar and over dinner. Tonight, though, conversation was subdued and watchful faces shot cautious, suspicious, or wary glances over their cards or their mugs at the group of strangers that sat at the table in the center of the tavern, enjoying the table full of food.

W

"Well, this place might not be much to look at, but the food is nothing to complain about."

"You said it, Hakkai!" Goku looked up from his plate long enough to grin enthusiastically at the others. "This is the best I've eaten in weeks!"

"Yeah, well, save a little for the rest of us," Gojyo shot back, reaching out with his chopsticks for the last dumpling on the plate. Goku dived for it as well, and the two struggled over it for a moment.

"Hey, you already got some, that one's mine," Goku protested and Gojyo glared at him.

"It's not like you haven't eaten everything else," he shot back.

"If you two don't stop it," Sanzo interrupted, voice even despite his gritted teeth, "I swear I am going to kill you both right here."

"Huh, I'd like to see you try," Gojyo snapped, managing to stab the dumpling and get it into his mouth before Goku could snatch it.

"HEY!" Goku cried. Sanzo glared at him.

"Just order another plate, all right?!" he finally shouted, losing his temper as Gojyo gave them both a self – satisfied grin.

Hakkai sighed, smiling in spite of himself, and wondered idly when he had last had a meal somewhere that didn't end in a food fight or a tavern – wide brawl. Certainly not on this trip; not that they'd been on it long, but still…

"It's kind of pathetic, really," he murmured aloud, presumably to the white dragon that was happily draped around his shoulders. Hakuryu made a little sound in response that sounded rather like a cat and Hakkai smiled absently and reached up to feed him a bit of the chicken that was still on his plate.

It wasn't so much that he minded the food fights. It was just that there were some places where it was more appropriate than others, and he wasn't entirely sure that this was the place to be starting trouble – even innocent trouble. Hakkai took a sip of his sake and leaned back in his chair casually, scanning the room over the rim of his cup.

_Yeah. They're still watching us,_ he thought, a little grimly. _And they still don't seem too happy…_

"Doesn't look like these people like outsiders much," Sanzo murmured quietly. Hakkai glanced at him and smiled.

"So you were watching," he murmured back. "Think there'll be trouble?"

"If they start it, I'll finish it," Gojyo warned, abruptly focused on the conversation. Goku had fallen silent, munching on his food, but he, too, was watching Sanzo.

"Well, it's not like we can go somewhere else," Sanzo pointed out. "Still…"

"Hey, sorry it took me so long to get over here, we're kind of busy tonight."

Hakkai looked up sharply, startled at the first friendly voice he'd heard all night. A young woman stood next to the table, smiling at all of them cheerfully, a full tray in her hands. She was wearing a short dress and an apron, and her long, black hair was pulled away from her face in a ponytail.

"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt," she added quickly, and Hakkai returned her smile.

"Not at all," he assured her and she grinned again.

"I figured you'd want something more to drink," she explained lightly, setting down another bottle of sake between him and Sanzo and placing a beer in front of Gojyo. "And more food, right? Here." Deftly, she cleared away a few of the empty plates to replace them with fresh, steaming dumplings and more chicken.

"Hey, this is great, thanks!" Goku laughed and the girl tilted her head to one side, still smiling as she considered them.

"I haven't seen you in here before, so… you must be passing though, right? Wherever you're going, you must have come pretty far to end up here for the night."

"Miya!"

Across the room, the bartender was glaring at them all. The young woman glanced over her shoulder, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Stop it, Tanaka, that's no way to treat our guests." There was a trace of command in her voice and the bartender turned away sharply. The girl he had called Miya glanced back at them with an apologetic look.

"We… don't get a lot of visitors here," she explained, a little dryly. "You'll have to excuse us if we seem a bit rude. We don't mean any harm. Anyway, if you need anything else, just ask for it, OK?"

"Oh, we will!" Goku reached for the food happily.

"_Anything_ else we need?" Gojyo was eyeing her appreciatively. "I can think of something…"

Hakkai sighed, waiting for the inevitable. Sanzo had already sprung up with his fan and was beating the protesting Gojyo over the head with it. The waitress had taken a step back, laughing, but she turned to Hakkai as he spoke.

"You seem to be pretty much in charge here. Are you the owner of this little establishment?"

"Oh, no." She looked amused at the thought. "I'm just the waitress and cook, that's all. Tanaka, there, actually owns the place. I've just worked here the longest…"

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Several of the men had come up to the table, sneering a little as they eyed the little group. Sanzo paused, still holding his fan, watching them with narrowed eyes; Gojyo had the predatory grin he sometimes got when he smelled a fight coming. Next to him, the girl had shifted a little, holding the tray lightly, watching them coolly.

"You're awfully friendly toward the strangers, aren't you, Miya?" the leader continued, leering at her. "Kinda makes a guy wonder, when you aren't this nice to you're regular customers…"

"Maybe because you're an asshole," Gojyo suggested casually. The leader smirked.

"Better than what she is," he shot back and the young woman lifted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing.

"Look, we don't want to start trouble," Hakkai replied, all friendliness, "but you really shouldn't insult a lady like that."

"A lady." The leader snorted. "She ain't no lady. Demon trash is more like it." In a sudden movement, faster than Hakkai expected, he grabbed the waitress' arm, pulling her close to him and speaking into her ear. "So what aren't you telling us, Miya? You're not this friendly to us humans, and I am starting to think that your 'guests' are more trash like you. Come on, now, it's not nice to keep secrets."

"Let her go." There was an open threat in Sanzo's voice.

"No, I don't think so," the man replied, looking up suddenly, real coldness in his expression. "We got a rule about demons here, and she knows it as well as any of us." He pulled her arm up behind her as Gojyo stood up…

The girl twisted in her attacker's grasp, a knee flying up to catch him in the groin and as he gasped and doubled over, she executed a quick, deft movement, sending him over her onto his back, the wind knocked out of him.

"Very nice." Gojyo grinned at her.

"You bitch!" The leader managed to get to his knees, glaring venom at her. "You are gonna pay for that little stunt."

"You know, I really don't think she will." Gojyo turned to eye the three men, all very clearly drunk, who staggered forward at the leader's words. The girl glanced over at him, looking a little startled.

And then the front door was blasted in.

For a moment, everyone froze, clearly confused. Sanzo was already on his feet, and Goku looked up from his plate, surprised. Hakkai had stood up also, his attention divided between the other tavern patrons, who were glaring at them with open hostility, and the door, which was oddly silent.

For a moment, everything was still. Outside, rain poured off the roof and pattered on the little stoop, shimmering against the shadows beyond…

Something moved out in the night and a shadow resolved in the doorway. It was disarmingly normal; just an old man in a cloak, holding a walking – stick and wearing a wide – brimmed straw hat. Still, there was something sinister about the shape, and Hakkai let his own eyes narrow as he sensed the old man's power.

"Shit." Next to Gojyo, the girl's words were barely a whisper in the silence. "I don't get paid enough for this crap."

"I am looking for Genjo Sanzo and his companions." The old man's voice was surprisingly deep and unsettlingly steady. "Hand him over and I will let the rest of you live."

"Damn it, another assassin." Gojyo sounded disgusted. "Where do they find these assholes?"

"You want to get killed, fine with me." Sanzo stepped forward.

"Genjo Sanzo and his companions are guests here." The girl also moved forward steadily, putting herself between the old man and the group around the table. "They are under our hospitality." She tilted her head to one side and offered him a sweet smile. "You want them, you have to deal with me first."

"Umm…" Hakkai considered her a little quizzically. "It's really kind of you to do that, my dear, but you might want to let us deal with this."

"Shut up," the girl replied absently, not taking her eyes off the figure in front of her.

The old man cackled, revealing cracked teeth. "You're a fool if you think you can stand up to me, little girl, but if you are truly that sick of this life… well," he grinned, his voice quiet. "I'll be happy to end it for you." He backed up a step, out into the night, and made a little mocking gesture. The young woman smiled quickly to herself and started forward.

"Hey, wait a minute." Gojyo caught her arm. "I hate to say it, but the ugly guy is right. You're gonna get killed out there."

"No, I won't." The girl glanced up at him, and Hakkai saw her eyes twinkle suddenly. "Watch."

The old man lunged at her, his stick glowing with a strange, eerie light. The girl had already slipped free from Gojyo and was standing near the door; a quick, effortless movement put her behind him and she danced backwards, out into the rain. The old man cackled again, following her.

"Idiot," Sanzo muttered, heading after her. Hakkai smiled to himself, following with the others. He was beginning to get the sneaking suspicion that the waitress was more than she seemed.

Outside, the old man lifted his staff, crying something out in a strange language. Next to Hakkai, Sanzo's eyes widened suddenly and he gave a little start, apparently recognizing the spell. Lightning cracked down from the sky, hit the staff, and shot outwards, but the girl was already gone, flipping over his head in a graceful movement. She landed as he spun, but there was something in her hand, something that looked like a short rod topped with a bell – shaped head.

"What's she got in her hand?" Goku asked. No one answered; light flared briefly from her hand and all of a sudden, something cracked out like a whip around her. The head caught the demon full in the stomach and he screamed before shattering into darkness.

It was abruptly very still in the little square. The young woman – Miya, Hakkai remembered – wandered forward a few steps, looking down at where the demon sorcerer had been before heading over toward where the four companions stood, staring with open mouths, and pausing before the priest.

"So you're the legendary Sanzo." She considered him, head tilted to one side, eyes sparkling wickedly even in the dim light. "I'd rather expected that assassins sent after _you_ would be a little more… difficult."

"Hey, that was incredible!" Goku cried. "You really kicked his ass. Nice!"

"That was impressive," Hakkai smiled at her, unable to help an answering trace of mischievous humor. "I doubt we could have done any better ourselves."

"Takes a demon to kill a demon," someone muttered, loud enough for them to hear and Miya half – turned to look out into the night, sudden caution on her face.

"Yeah, what's so bad about that?" Goku demanded. Several of the men were drawing closer and by the lantern light, they could see that the men's faces were closed and hostile.

"Trouble," Sanzo muttered and Gojyo grinned.

"You think?"

Hakkai glanced quickly at Miya. She wasn't moving, but there was a shadow across her face, something he couldn't read in her eyes.

"We don't like demons here." It was Tanaka, the bartender, who answered, eyes narrowed. "We got one to deal with trouble, but that's all."

"Some of us think that's one too much," someone said from the crowd and another answered, "Especially as she's so friendly to her own kind…"

"Kinda makes you wonder what side she's on," another person yelled, and Tanaka glared over his shoulder.

"That's enough. We don't have a quarrel with Miya. At least, not right now." He turned back to the small group. "But we don't have a place for strangers here. You'd best be moving on."

"They can't make the next town at this time of night, and you all know it."

Miya's voice was calm and even. Tanaka turned a warning look on her.

"That isn't our problem. They may not have meant anything, but they've already brought trouble."

"What d'ya mean, they didn't mean anything by it?" One of the men pushed forward through the crowd, stepping into the circle of lantern light to glare at the group with open hostility. "You trust the lying bastards? Just because that demon said he was after them… they probably hired him themselves. What, is this some kind of a scam? You send demons to attack our town, then offer to get rid of them for a price, is that it?"

"You stupid assholes, you think we'd bother with that?" Gojyo shot back. "If I had hired the fucking demons, you can bet I wouldn't bother to stop them now."

"Gojyo, I don't think that's helping," Hakkai said, and turned his most disarming smile on the crowd. "I'm sorry, we didn't realize that our presence would be a problem here…"

"And we'll be more than happy to get the hell out of here," Gojyo finished harshly.

Miya shifted and reached out quickly to lay a hand on Gojyo's arm.

"That's a more dangerous proposition than you know," she said softly, "even for you four." She stepped forward into the circle of light, facing the mob.

"Long ago, you hired me to protect your town from demons," she called, her voice carrying over the patter of the rain and the restless muttering of the crowd. "Whether you regret that contract now or not, you have not yet released me from it, and I still consider it my obligation to you… as you well know." She caught the eyes of a few members of the crowd. "I have heard of Genjo Sanzo and his companions, and I know that they do not mean you any harm, and…" she went on, before the rising murmur could become shouting, "I will vouch for them. They can stay the night at my home, and if they cause any trouble, I will accept whatever punishment is deserved, in their stead." She smiled, her expression hard. "Surely you realize that they can hardly be in a place where they will be able to do the least harm, staying in the house of the town's demon protector."

For a long moment, there was uncertain muttering. Hakkai glanced over quickly at his own companions. Goku was watching everything uncertainly. Gojyo was eyeing the crowd. Sanzo's eyes were on the girl, and Hakkai couldn't read his expression.

"That's acceptable to us," Tanaka answered, half to Miya and half to the others. "But if they cause any trouble… rest assured that we will insist on justice from them and from you."

"Fucking bastards…" Gojyo muttered, turning away. Hakkai allowed himself a little sigh and glanced at the girl.

"Fine." She inclined her head mockingly, then turned her back to the crowd, her attention back on them.

"That is," she added with a far friendlier smile, "if you want to stay with me. Otherwise, you can risk the road, but…"

"Your place will be fine," Sanzo assured her, just a little shortly. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm getting tired of standing in the rain."

"Sanzo," Hakkai chided gently and smiled at Miya. "Thank – you."

She returned the smile easily, not looking the slightest bit hurt at Sanzo's brusqueness.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go home."


	2. Gojyo

The night passed quietly.

Miya, it turned out, lived just beyond the outskirts of the village in a small but comfortable house set just off the main road. She welcomed them inside, giving them the bedroom and bringing them old clothes so that theirs could dry, towels and blankets before leaving them for the night. It hadn't taken long for the four companions to settle down for the night; Sanzo had been moody and withdrawn, and Goku was sleepy from the huge meal. Both had fallen asleep almost immediately.

For a long time, there was silence in the small room, broken only by the patter of the rain and Goku's snoring. Sitting propped up against the bed on the blankets spread across the floor, Gojyo sighed at the sound.

_Damn monkey,_ he thought idly, but there was no real irritation to it. Outside, it was very dark, and Gojyo watched the shadow of the rain, not quite tired enough to sleep and not quite awake enough to do anything else.

"So, what do you think of our hostess?"

Hakkai's voice came out of the darkness quietly, pitched low so as not to wake the others. He was sitting near the window, looking out sightlessly at the rain.

"I think," Gojyo replied with a grin, "that I'd rather be out there with her than in here with you guys."

Hakkai gave a low chuckle.

"I should have expected that," he responded good – naturedly. "That's not quite what I meant, though." He hesitated, then went on more thoughtfully, "I have the strangest feeling about her…"

"Yeah." Gojyo smiled in the darkness, turning to look out the window at the rain. "Kinda like when we met, you know?"

"Exactly."

Silence settled over the darkened room, broken only by the sound of the rain.

---

It was very rare for Gojyo to be the first to wake up in the morning; the water demon liked to sleep until a decent hour, generally around noon. He was more than a little surprised, therefore, when he found himself awake when the sun was still low in the sky and was completely unable to fall back asleep.

He tried for all of about ten minutes before giving up in disgust. Like it or not, he wasn't going to get any more sleep, and he sighed as he got to his feet and picked his way over Hakkai and Goku. It only took him a moment to dress before he left, wondering if their hostess would be up yet.

She had said she would sleep in the living room. Gojyo considered looking in to see if she was awake.

_'Course, if she isn't…_ He grinned at the thought, then sighed. He wouldn't have minded getting a look at her asleep, but better not to give into his baser impulses until he knew her a little better. Gojyo headed for the kitchen, looking for tea.

In the doorway, however, he paused. On the stove, a teapot whistled happily and a pleasant smell from inside the oven filled the kitchen. Someone had already laid the table for breakfast and fresh flowers stood on the table and in the windows, adding color to the room. The back door stood open; Gojyo wandered across the kitchen, turning off the stove as he passed and stepped out into the bright, morning sunlight.

Miya was sitting on a little bench, out in the sunlight, looking out over the road and for a moment, Gojyo stayed where he was, savoring the sight. He hadn't really gotten a good look at her the night before, just enough to know that she was attractive; now, he took her in more thoroughly, enjoying what he saw.

She was more than attractive, he realized; she was downright beautiful. She was wearing a light, white blouse with long sleeves and a short, flowing skirt of deep green, with a wide waist that showed off her figure. She had stretched her legs out, apparently enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin and one hand lightly rested on the teacup at her side; even sitting still, she gave the impression of being incredibly graceful. Long, straight, ebony hair fell free around her shoulders and back, just brushing the bench she sat on.

And she had the most incredible pair of bedroom eyes he had ever seen in his life. Gojyo smiled to himself. They were the deepest shade of violet, dreamy and seductive at the same time, simply because she was lost in her own thoughts.

_Damn,_ he thought admiringly. _It'd be just my luck, if she were in love with someone else…_

He sighed and stirred, heading over to join her.

"Looks like I'm not the first one up after all," he said as he drew near.

Miya didn't seem to hear him. Gojyo paused, standing just behind her, following her gaze across the road to the golden field that stretched out into the distance, giving way to the shadow of the nearby mountains.

"Nice place you've got here," he added casually. Miya still didn't react, and Gojyo frowned, glancing down at her.

"Hey, are you OK?" he asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder when she still didn't respond.

Miya started at his touch, then, so fast that he didn't even have time to be startled, grabbed his wrist with her hand and spun, her other hand flashing out in what would have been a stunning punch. Gojyo grabbed her other hand and snapped, "What the hell?" before he saw her expression. There was terror written across her face, mixed with anger and pain, but her eyes were distant, turned inward, and he realized abruptly that she was trapped in her own memories. She was still struggling against him, and he caught her wrists in his hands, concerned more for her than for himself.

"Hey, it's all right, I'm not going to hurt you," he said harshly. "Come on, Miya, snap out of this, it's just me…"

She twisted away from him sharply, going limp in his grasp as if she just realized she wasn't going to break free and brushed the cup resting on the bench. It hit the ground with a crash and at the sound, Miya jerked violently, then blinked, staring up at him with wide, startled eyes.

"What… Gojyo…" She shook her head sharply, then turned away from him, gently pulling her hands free. "Oh god, Gojyo, I am so sorry…"

"No harm done." Gojyo grinned at her, deliberately making light of the situation. "I always like a good workout in the morning."

"I can't believe that I…" She shook her head again, one hand over her mouth, her cheeks burning crimson. "I'm so sorry, you startled me, that's all."  
"Hey," Gojyo said, more gently. "It's all right, OK? You didn't hurt me."

"Well, that's good, I just…" She shook her head again, but she was starting to regain her composure. "I was… dreaming with my eyes open, I think." She looked away from him again, a shadow flickering over her eyes for a second. Gojyo waited, still watching her; Miya took a deep breath and sighed, clearly settling herself, and turned back to him with a smile.

"Let's try that again, OK?" she asked hopefully and Gojyo grinned.

"Sounds good to me," he assured her. "Nice place you got here."

"It is." She turned a little, at his side, considering the scenery. "When I first came to this village, the place was abandoned and no one would live here… it was said that a demon family had lived here, before they went mad and left the place, back when all the demons changed. Anyway, they gave it to me in exchange for my protection."

"Is this why you don't leave?" he asked, glancing down at her, and she laughed softly, turning back toward the house.

"I haven't left," she said over her shoulder, "because it wasn't time yet. This is just the best part of living here."

Gojyo turned also, still smiling as he followed her into the house. She was heating up the teapot again, and he leaned in the doorway, watching as she pulled a loaf of fresh bread out of the oven and began to lay food out on the table.

"Tea?" she asked, turning with the teapot in her hand, and he nodded.

"Thanks." She handed him the cup, then turned to take another out of her cabinet and poured herself another cup as well, before putting the teapot down and turning to consider the table.

"I really don't care how long you guys sleep," she commented thoughtfully, "and you are welcome to stay here as long as you like… but if you guys need to get going, everything is ready for you to eat first."

"Well, _I'm_ not in any hurry," Gojyo replied, eyeing her appreciatively, and she laughed again. "Goku'll get up as soon as he smells the food, though, don't worry. We'll be out of your hair soon."

"Oh, really, you don't need to hurry on my account, it's nice to have company around here," she replied cheerfully.

"Hey, something smells really good in here." Goku appeared in the door, rubbing his eyes tiredly; behind him, Sanzo and Hakkai followed, looking a little more awake.

"Good morning," Miya greeted them cheerfully as they paused just inside the door, her eyes sparkling a little as she took in Goku's tired look and Sanzo's rather dark expression. "I have hot tea and coffee, whichever you prefer, and breakfast… but take your time, they'll be here whenever you're ready."

"Coffee." Sanzo dropped into the nearest chair, scowling at the table blankly.

"You did all this for us?" Goku demanded incredulously, waking up a little at the sight of food, and Miya laughed.

"Well, I certainly can't eat it all," she replied lightly, placing a steaming cup of coffee in front of Sanzo, then glanced up at Hakkai.

"Good morning to you too." Hakkai returned her smile warmly, then grinned at Gojyo. "You're up early."

"Yeah, well…" Gojyo shrugged casually. "Goku's snoring kept waking me up."

"Hey, I don't snore half as bad as you," Goku shot back, glaring at him, reaching for the food. Gojyo tossed his hair back and reached for a cigarette.

"You're ten times worse than me, monkey – boy," he shot back.

"Shut up, water – sprite…"

"I can't believe you two are fighting this early in the morning," Sanzo snapped through gritted teeth. "Just give it a rest!"

Hakkai laughed quietly, taking a seat, and looked up as Miya placed a cup of tea in front of him.

"Thank – you so much for doing all of this," he told her. "You really didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"It wasn't any trouble at all," she replied lightly. "Besides, as I said to Gojyo earlier, it's nice to have somebody around here."

"You live here alone?" Sanzo turned his attention to her and Miya nodded.

"I can't imagine that the townspeople are good company." Goku looked up from his plate. "How come you stay here? I mean, if they hate demons that much…"

Miya smiled, almost as if to herself, and turned away from the table, an empty plate in her hand.

"Mostly because the time wasn't right for me to leave," she replied lightly, over her shoulder, and Gojyo considered her thoughtfully.

_That's the second time she's said that,_ he mused. _Wonder what she means by it?_

Sanzo looked up sharply, half – turning in his chair to stare at her back. Gojyo glanced at him, startled, unable to read his expression, then shot a look at Hakkai. Hakkai, too, was watching Sanzo, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

_I wonder just what the hell is up with him?_ Gojyo wondered, then sat back in his chair. _Oh, well, he'll tell us if it's important._

"Hey, Miya," he said casually, "if you want any of this, you'd better come get some before Goku eats it all."

She smiled and shook her head.

"I ate while I was making it," she replied. "If you want, though, I can wrap up the leftovers for you to take with you, whenever you decide you want to leave."

"That'd be great!" Goku replied enthusiastically. "You're a great cook, thanks so much!"

"And on that note…" Sanzo pushed back his chair and rose to his feet. "You've been very kind, Miya. We'll help you clean up quickly, then we'd better be on our way."

"Hey, what's the hurry, preacher – man?" Goku looked up at him plaintively. "We've been driving steadily for days, can't we take a little break?"

"We're on a time constraint, remember?" Sanzo shot back sharply. "Besides, we've taken up enough of Miya's time."

"Yeah, but she said she didn't mind, right?" Goku grinned at Miya, then added to Sanzo, "Besides, what about those creeps back in town? Shouldn't we do something about them?"

"Like what, Goku?" Hakkai's voice was gentler as he, too, got to his feet. "They're human, and we can't very well kill them for being jerks, can we?"

"I could," Gojyo replied dryly and Hakkai sighed.

"Well, maybe not kill them, but…" Goku shook his head. "I hate to leave Miya here to deal with them by herself."

"So do I, but we have to go," Sanzo replied shortly. "I'll get the stuff in the bedroom. You help Miya clean up in here."

"It's really not a big deal," Miya protested, and Hakkai turned a warm smile on her.

"It's the least we can do, after everything you've done for us," he answered.

"Well, I'll pack some food for you," she told them. "Oh, and I have some fresh herbs you might want. They're good for healing, and I get the feeling you run into enough trouble that you might want them…"

"That's for sure," Gojyo admitted with a grin and Hakkai added with a laugh, "That's real thoughtful of you."

She chuckled. "I'll go get them," she replied, taking a small knife off of the counter and heading outside.

Hakkai glanced up after her, waiting until she was gone before turning to Gojyo.

"Hey, is it just me, or do you get the feeling that Sanzo is rushing us out of here?" he asked quietly.

Gojyo smiled darkly.

"Yeah, I picked that up too. What's his thing with her?"

"I don't know." Hakkai paused, hands still in the soapy water. "I'm not sure I want to ask him about it, although…" He trailed off and Gojyo glanced toward the back door where Miya disappeared.

"I don't like the idea of leaving her here alone," he pointed out. "That mob last night was serious about what they were going to do to us. She can defend herself all right, but…" He hesitated, not finishing his sentence out loud.

_But something happened to her before, and I don't know if she could – or would – fight off a group of humans even if they did attack her…_

Hakkai was watching him with knowing eyes, but when Gojyo met his gaze, Hakkai only finished, "but there are a lot of them and only one of her."

The sudden sound of voices outside interrupted the conversation. Miya's voice rose loudly; Gojyo couldn't make out the words, but she was clearly angry and a man's voice snapped something over her, sounding very much like the bartender from the night before.

"Damn," Hakkai snapped softly, drying his hands, but Gojyo strode out the door, not waiting for him.

Miya was standing by the road, facing three men, one of whom was, in fact, the bartender from the night before, her knife and a small bouquet of herbs in her hands.

"And I am telling you that no one left this house last night," she was insisting sharply, glaring at the three men as Gojyo came up behind her.

"What exactly seems to be the problem?" he drawled casually, eyes narrowed. The three men looked up sharply, and Gojyo noted with satisfaction that they seemed abruptly uncomfortable facing him.

"A man was killed last night," Tanaka, the bartender, answered shortly. "And we have reason to think that it was a demon that did the killing."

"Why, because he is dead?" Miya demanded sarcastically. "You think demons are the only ones who kill humans? Tell me something, was there anyone in town who wasn't his enemy?"

"He was torn to bits, Miya!" The man behind Tanaka cried out abruptly. "Only a demon could have done that."

"That still doesn't mean it was anyone here," Miya shot back. "Come on, the reason I live here is because we get demons in the woods from time to time. No one left this house last night, I told you. I would have known if they had, I was sleeping right by the door…"

"Now, the way I figure it, there are two possibilities."

Gojyo's eyes narrowed even further as he considered the man who was eyeing Miya thoughtfully. He hadn't spoken before, but now he held Miya's eyes steadily, a small, cruel smile playing on his face. "Either your demon guests did it without you knowing about it, Miss Miya… or you did know about it and you're covering up for them. Now, the one isn't so bad. You'd have to be punished, of course, for being negligent and all, but that'd be pretty minor, compared to what we'd have to do to anyone who helped a demon killer…"

Miya looked suspiciously like she was ready to spit in his face, but there was something else buried deep in her eyes. The man facing her seemed to see it; his voice was almost crooning as he added, "Now, you really wouldn't want anything… unnecessary… to happen to you or your guests. You might as well just tell us the truth."

"You know, I really hate it when someone threatens a lady like that," Gojyo said casually, drawing their attention to him. The man who had been threatening Miya smiled coldly, measuring him up with thoughtful, deliberate, insulting leisure.

"And what are you going to do about it, half – breed?" the man asked lazily. "Kill me like you killed that poor bastard last night?"

"I think that's enough." Hakkai had come up to Miya's other side, his tone cold. "As Miya said, no one left the house last night. All we want to do now is continue on our journey, so I think it'd be best if we just left."

"That may be all you want, but I'm afraid that things are a little more complicated than that now," Tanaka responded, eyes narrowed.

"Tell me, why is that?" Sanzo stepped to the front of the little group. "Just what exactly do you think you're going to be able to do that would stop us?"

"He's got a point," the nervous man in the back muttered. Tanaka was still watching them all narrowly, but the third man's expression didn't change.

"It doesn't matter, Tanaka," he said idly and shrugged. "You're free to go, the four of you."

"What the hell?" Goku glared at him. "You just said…"

"It doesn't matter because of the agreement Miya made with us last night," the man went on smoothly. "She agreed to take on the responsibility for your actions in the town. Your leaving will be taken as a sign of guilt, but that will hardly matter to you, for she will receive justice on your behalf."

For a moment, no one moved, then Gojyo snarled, "You fucking bastard…" and surged forward.

"Gojyo, don't, that won't help," Hakkai snapped sharply. For a heartbeat, Gojyo considered killing the man anyway and being done with it and the man smiled his small, cruel smile again, meeting Gojyo's eyes.

"Go ahead," he dared quietly. "If she fails to protect me, than her failure and my death at your hands can all be added to the crimes she will do justice for."

"Wait." Miya's voice was quiet and steady, and Gojyo paused, turning to look at her. She had gotten everyone's attention; she tilted her head to one side, her eyes thoughtful, and said slowly, "The law gives me three days to find out who really killed Taro, doesn't it? And during those three days, nothing can happen, not unless the criminal comes forward and confesses or the real culprit is found, right?"

"If they leave, it will be considered the flight of a guilty man, and taken as a confession," the man snapped, but he had lost just a bit of his composure.

"Yes." Tanaka shot a sharp look at his friend, then turned to Miya, his expression steady. "You have three days, if you want them."

"Yes, I think I do." She turned to Sanzo. "I am truly sorry about this, and I regret having to ask this of you, knowing that you are in a hurry, but…"

"Of course we'll stay and help you!" Goku cried and Hakkai added swiftly, "we wouldn't leave you to suffer for what none of us did."

"Don't worry about it," Gojyo added and saw her eyes flicker to him quickly. "Besides, I'm gonna enjoy seeing the bastard who tried to frame us get the justice he deserves."

She shot them a briefly grateful glance, then turned back to Sanzo. He was looking outward, away from all of them, and Gojyo had the feeling that he wasn't seeing anything around him. After a second, however, he shot a look at Miya and nodded.

"We'll stay," he said abruptly and turned away, heading for the house.

"Fine," the man beside Tanaka snarled. "Three days, but remember this: any crimes you commit over that time will be added to your sentence. You won't be put up in town, either. And if you leave…" He turned to eye Miya coldly. "You are pronounced guilty and your sentence carried out on her." He spun, stomping away back towards the village. The little man behind him shot them all a nervous and entirely inappropriate smile and darted away after him. Tanaka hesitated a moment longer, considering them.

"Is there something else?" Hakkai demanded coldly. Tanaka shook his head slowly.

"Good luck," he said quietly and headed off down the road.

Alone, the four stood silently together for a moment, then Miya sighed and dropped down onto the bench.

"I am truly sorry about this," she apologized quietly. "I never thought that their distrust would go this far, and to be honest…" She shook her head, looking abruptly puzzled. "It never has been before. I don't know what could have started all this…"

"It doesn't really matter," Hakkai was looking down the road where the three men had disappeared, his expression grim. "It was bound to happen sometime. I'm just glad that we were here and you didn't have to face this all by yourself."

"Yeah, at least now we can we can help," Goku added, offering her a reassuring smile.

"Still, I did drag you into this, and I do apologize for that," Miya replied.

"It does suck," Gojyo admitted, straight – faced, "but I'm not going to complain about getting a couple more nights here with you. Last night was kind of a disappointment, but…"

"God, Gojyo!" Hakkai shook his head, but he was clearly trying not to grin.

"I don't believe you, you selfish bastard," Goku snapped and Gojyo glared at him.

"Come on, like you're not glad that you don't have to eat Sanzo's cooking, you little asshole," he shot back.

"Yeah, but you don't have to say it like that," Goku retorted.

But Miya was laughing as she stood up and headed for the house, already looking more like her usual self. Gojyo watched as the others followed her, then gave a quick, satisfied smile before going to join them.


	3. Goku

It didn't take them long to decide that the best place to start looking for their killer was in town. Miya suggested that someone should take a look at the body, making sure that a demon really was the one that killed him; Sanzo wanted to talk to the townspeople and see what he could find out.

They arrived in the village to find the streets quiet and subdued. People turned away as they passed, watching them with hostile eyes, and mothers pulled their children into the house, waiting in the shadows for them to leave. One storekeeper slammed the door as they walked by, turning the sign to say "Closed."

They split up when they reached the center of the town; Sanzo and Goku went to find out whatever they could, leaving Hakkai, Gojyo and Miya to go see the body. They would meet back at Miya's house with whatever information they could gather.

---

Goku was bored.

The sun was high in the sky when he and Sanzo got back to Miya's house, only to find that the other three hadn't returned yet. For awhile, he had followed Sanzo around the house; that had lasted for about fifteen minutes before Sanzo explained to Goku that if Goku wanted to live to eat dinner, he had better let Sanzo have some time alone. Goku had long since learned when that was an idle threat and when it wasn't, and this time it wasn't, so he had wandered outside and flopped down on the grass in the sun.

_What the hell is with Sanzo, anyway? _he wondered a little resentfully. _Ever since we got here, he's been in such crappy mood. Yeah, we got delayed, but at least Miya's nice and the food is good._

Well, there was no figuring out Sanzo some days. Goku sighed and wondered when the others would get back. Even fighting with Gojyo was more interesting than just lying around waiting for something to happen…

As if in response to his thoughts, a shimmer in the distance resolved into the familiar shape of the jeep. Goku jumped to his feet, grinning.

"All right!" he called as they came closer. "It's about time you got here!"

Hakuryu came to a stop near the house. Hakkai, as usual was in the driver's seat; Miya sat in the passenger seat next to him, a thoughtful look on her face. Gojyo was leaning between them from the back.

"Hey, Goku," Hakkai greeted him with a smile as he climbed out. "You guys find out anything?"

"The townspeople are jerks." Goku shrugged. "What about you guys?"

"Well, it was definitely a demon that killed Taro…" Hakkai answered. Gojyo had gotten out of the jeep as well and leaned against it, lighting a cigarette.

"Yeah, chewed him up pretty badly," he added thoughtfully.

"That's it!" Miya cried abruptly, startling them all. They spun to look at her as she swung herself over the car door and dropped to the ground. "That's what's been bothering me, that's what I couldn't figure out before!"

"Looks like insight struck one of us, anyway," Hakkai said with a grin, but Miya didn't hear him, clearly lost in her own thoughts.

"I knew there was something strange about the body, and that's why I couldn't figure out what it was," she went on. "That's what it was. Taro was mauled pretty badly, but he was in one piece. If it was one of the flesh – eating demons, there would have been chunks missing."

"Nice," Gojyo commented dryly, grinning and Hakkai shook his head, looking rather amused as he considered her.

"You do this a lot, don't you?" he teased her and Miya shot them both an exasperated look.

"Will you two shut up for a moment and listen to me?" she demanded impatiently, though she was smiling. "Around here, we get the angry demons and the hungry ones. The hungry ones will eat the body after they kill it. The angry ones will come into town and kill people, but they usually kill as many people as possible, not just one, and they usually don't leave a mess. Taro didn't look like either of those things."

She stopped and took a deep breath, looking at them all expectantly.

Goku shook his head. "I don't get it, what the hell are you talking about?"

Gojyo was looking at Miya with an expression of dawning comprehension. The laughter had faded from Hakkai as well as he said slowly, "Miya, are you saying that…"

Miya's eyes flickered to both demons quickly, then to Goku.

"Goku, you'd better get Sanzo," she said quietly.

---

They gathered to talk in the living room.

This was, Goku saw, clearly going to be a serious conversation; Sanzo and Gojyo settled down with a beer in their hands, while Hakkai and Miya shared a bottle of sake. They had barely found places around the low table in the center of the room before Sanzo demanded, "What did you find out?"

"Taro was killed by a demon," Hakkai replied quietly, all seriousness now. "No human could have done that kind of damage. Miya thinks that he was killed specifically to put the blame on us."

Sanzo's eyes flickered to Miya, sitting on the floor with her legs curled to one side, her expression calm and quiet.

"Are you sure?" he snapped.

"Not without catching the culprit, no," she shot back. "But, given the situation… as sure as I can be."

"OK, so the next questions is… why?" Gojyo asked, surveying the group with his usual, casual expression from his place standing by the window.

"Miya?" Hakkai turned his attention back toward her.

"I don't…" Miya shook her head, frowning a little. "I can't think of a reason. Yes, they've always been suspicious, but they've never been this bad, not since I've been here, anyway. They don't like strangers and they don't allow demons to live here, but other than that… they may not be friendly, but they wouldn't kill someone, especially not a human and one of their own villagers."

"Well, someone did," Sanzo pointed out flatly. "And unless you can be a little more helpful, we're going to have to pay for it."

Miya sighed, but Gojyo looked up thoughtfully.

"Could it be Kougaji?" he asked.

"This isn't really his style," Sanzo answered. "Unless whoever is controlling Kougaji has someone else after us as well."

"We've seen stranger," Hakkai replied dryly, then looked over at Miya as if struck by a sudden thought. "Miya, you regularly hunt demons around here. If this was a normal situation for you, what would your next move be?"

She considered him for a moment, then smiled slowly.

"Well, if it was a normal demon, than chances are, he'd be back tonight," she responded. "Depending on what I thought he was going after, I'd make sure I was where he was most likely going to be and get him then."

"And if someone is trying to frame us, than chances are, the bastard'll kill again tonight to make things worse for us," Gojyo finished, grinning, his eyes on Miya and she nodded at him, still smiling.

"All right then." Sanzo stood up. "We'll go after him tonight." He considered the group and added, "and until then, I'm going to need a little bit of time away from all of you."

Goku rolled his eyes as Sanzo left the room.

"_And until then, I'm going to need a little bit of time away from all of you_," he mimicked. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"Sanzo has seemed just a little bit off since this whole thing began," Hakkai admitted with a rueful grin. "I don't know what it is, though. Maybe it's just the delay."

"Come on, Sanzo's always an asshole, he's just being worse than usual," Gojyo retorted and Hakkai chuckled.

"I'm not sure if I'd go that far," he protested and Goku grinned.

"Aw, it doesn't matter, he'll get over it," he replied dismissivly and Miya laughed softly and rose to her feet.

"Well, I'll leave you to figuring out Sanzo," she said lightly, "and I'll go make dinner."

"Really?" Goku sprang to his feet eagerly and Miya glanced at him and laughed again.

"You want to help?" she offered cheerfully. "I could use a hand chopping vegetables…"

"Lady, if you are cooking, I'll do whatever you want," Goku told her with heartfelt sincerity.

"Ah, so that's the secret to getting your good behavior," Hakkai teased and Gojyo grinned, wandering across the room to lean on the doorway casually, an arm blocking Miya's retreat.

"You know, Miya, if you're looking for a willing slave, you really ought to dump the monkey and go for someone a little more experienced," he told her. Miya paused in the doorway and tilted her head to one side as she looked up at him, eyes sparkling wickedly.

"I sincerely doubt that you have any experience in slicing vegetables," she replied, offering him the sweetest smile Goku had ever seen. "But if you want to want to be of some use to me…"

"Yeah?" Gojyo was clearly enjoying himself thoroughly.

"The four of you are going to be staying another night. You could get the bedroom ready," she finished serenely and Gojyo chuckled, leaning just a little closer to her.

"Love to," he replied. "Where do you want the other three to sleep?"  
"All right then!" Hakkai stood up abruptly, laughing. "This would be my cue to find somewhere else to be."

Gojyo glanced over at Hakkai at his sudden motion; Miya took the opportunity to duck under his arm, still laughing softly to herself as she headed into the kitchen. Gojyo glanced back at where Miya disappeared, still smiling himself as Hakkai came up next to him, following his gaze.

"You never pass up an opportunity, do you?" he commented, sounding amused.

"With a girl like her?" Gojyo countered cheerfully and Goku grinned.

"Oh, come on, she's not stupid enough to go for someone like you," he retorted mischievously heading down the hall after her, but he wasn't quite fast enough to escape Gojyo's reach.

"Like you would know anything about it, you little fag."

"Don't start blaming me for your problems…"


	4. Miya pt1

Everyone gathered for dinner.

Outside, the sun was starting just starting to go down, casting long shadows across the road. Inside, most of the food was done and the table was set; dusting her hands off on her apron, Miya took in the room one last time, wondering if there was anything else she needed to do.

"Hey, Miya, how do I know when it's done?"

Miya glanced over her shoulder and smiled. Goku was stirring a pot, looking rather confused as he considered the contents.

"It'll be bubbling," she replied lightly. Goku frowned.

"It's got this… shit on top…" he told her doubtfully and Miya grinned.

"That means that all the soup is boiling away."

"Damn." Goku turned off the stove hastily. "Did I ruin it?"

Miya turned back to the stove, leaning around Goku to get a better look. Goku backed away, still looking doubtful and Miya stirred the broth quickly and shook her head.

"Not at all," she assured him. "It'll just taste a little stronger, that's all. Some people actually like it better that way."

"When did you learn to cook?" Goku asked curiously. Miya deftly ladled the soup into a bowl, as she replied, "Oh, when I was little girl." She smiled abruptly at the memories. "My mother was a terrible cook, actually. I figured I couldn't possibly be any worse and there was a chance that I'd be better, so…"

"What about your father?" Goku questioned.

"I never knew him." She set the bowl on the table, looking around the kitchen quickly. "He died or left either before I was born or when I was really little… Mother never talked about him, so I really don't know. I don't remember him at all. Where did I put the bread?"

"Here." Goku handed it to her, watching her thoughtfully. "So it was just you and your mom?"

"And my little sister," Miya replied quietly, crossing the room to take another couple of plates off the counter and bring them over to the table.

"Hey, I didn't mean…" Goku sounded a little uncomfortable. "I mean, if you don't want to talk about it… I'm sorry."

Miya smiled as she turned back to him, giving him her full attention.

"The truth is, I haven't really thought about my family in a long time…" she said, then grinned. "You're dying of curiosity, aren't you?"

"No…" Goku looked away and blushed.

Miya laughed softly and shook her head, crossing the room again to take the last few plates of food out of the oven, where she was keeping them warm.

"Put these on the table," she instructed gently, handing them to Goku. "Koto's actually my half – sister. She's… oh, let's see…" She paused, a bottle of sake and four cups in her hands as she counted in her head. "She's four years younger than I am, so that would make her eighteen now."

"She's a demon too, right?" Goku broke in, looking up, and Miya shook her head. "Half – demon, actually. My mother was the full demon." Goku looked puzzled and Miya tilted her head to one side, watching him. "My father was a demon, hers was a human." She placed the cups at each of the places and uncorked the bottle before turning to check the counter one last time, making sure she hadn't forgotten any of the food. "He actually stayed around a little longer than my father did. Even before the demons turned, though, human – demon relationships were taboo and after awhile…" She shrugged. "It was safer for all of us if he left, so he did." She shook her head, banishing the memories and grinned at Goku. "That's it! We're done. Thanks for the help, by the way, it went a lot faster with two more hands."

"No problem." Goku returned her grin. "You let me taste everything…"

Miya laughed again. "Go get the others before this all gets cold."

"You got it!" Goku headed for the back door where Sanzo and Hakkai had disappeared earlier.

Alone, Miya sighed, still smiling, and drifted over to the stove, gathering the dirty dishes and dumping them in the sink.

_Goku reminds me a lot of Koto, actually,_ she reflected. _Back before she got so bitter, anyway. I wonder where she is now…_

"Look at this, another feast. A guy could get spoiled, living with you."

Miya grinned at the voice, not turning around.

"What makes you think I'd do all this for a man I was living with?" she retorted lightly.

"You would and you know it." She heard the answering grin in Gojyo's voice as she turned around, about to reach for the stack of dirty pots behind her. Gojyo, however, had come up behind her and already had them in his hands; he leaned over her deliberately to put them in the sink and she relaxed backwards against the counter, looking up at him.

"Actually, I wouldn't know it," she shot back, enjoying herself thoroughly. "I've lived alone ever since I left my mother's house."

"Really." Gojyo considered her, staying just close enough to be suggestive without actually making her uncomfortable. "That's a waste."

"Umm, I hate to interrupt," Hakkai's voice came from the door, sounding amused, but Sanzo had come up behind Gojyo and Miya saw the fan in his hands and slid sideways, getting out of the way just in time. The fan came down hard on Gojyo's head and Miya watched for a second, amused.

"God, what was that for, you asshole?" Gojyo escaped a few steps and glared at the priest.

"I can't leave you alone for two seconds without you going after anything in a skirt…"

"Oh, come _on_, it's gonna get cold!" Goku snapped impatiently, fluttering around Sanzo irritably.

"Maybe we'd better start without those three."

Miya glanced over her shoulder at Hakkai, who had come up behind her and nodded.

"They can join us when they're ready," she replied amiably. He gestured for her to take her seat, and she settled down at the foot of the table, waiting until Hakkai sat down in the chair to her left before pouring out the sake for them both.

"And what are we drinking to tonight?" she asked lightly. Hakkai glanced at the other three, still fighting on the opposite end of the kitchen.

"To travelling companions?" he suggested cheerfully.

There was knowing in his eyes. She paused, unable to help her sudden, questioning glance. He gave her one of his warm smiles, but it was the look in his eyes that assured her that he knew exactly what he was saying. She hesitated a second longer, touched in spite of herself, then returned the smile, feeling oddly shy.

"To traveling companions," she echoed quietly.

"Hey, you two aren't starting without us!" Gojyo had abruptly appeared at the side of the table, looking at them with cheerful suspicion.

"Well, you three were having so much fun over there, we didn't want to disturb you," Hakkai replied, smiling. Gojyo dropped down into the chair across from Miya and poured himself a liberal glass of sake, then reached for a plate.

"With Goku around, getting a head start isn't a bad idea," he admitted.

"Hey, at least I helped make it, while you just sat around on your lazy ass," Goku retorted, reaching for whatever food was nearest to him without looking.

"You're just jealous because you know I'll do more to earn my keep tonight than you ever will." Gojyo offered Goku a wicked grin.

"I'm going to assume that you mean when we going demon – hunting, my friend," Hakkai said, laughing.

"Hmm, forgot about that." Gojyo shot a mischievous look at Miya.

Sanzo had his head in his hand. Miya smiled slightly and reached for the bottle of sake, pouring out a cup, and gently placed it in front of him.

He looked up, and she saw that he was startled; for a second, he stared at her as if he hadn't really looked at her before, and Miya smiled.

"Eat," she advised quietly. "It's going to be a busy night."

---

They lingered over dinner as the sun set outside.

Miya didn't say much as they ate. There wasn't much need; the others chatted around her, teasing each other and bickering, throwing out ideas and plans for later that night, speculating on the killer and on his reasons. Miya listened, dropping in a thought of her own every now and again, and – after she had finished her third cup of sake – surprising herself by gently chiming in on the good – natured banter.

But mostly she watched them, as the kitchen was flooded with brilliant light and shadows grew darker just outside the back door that she had left open, enjoying the restlessness the cool air stirred in her demon – dark blood. She watched how they talked to each other, how they talked to her, the expressions on their faces as they discussed the threat they were facing, the looks in their eyes as they insulted each other and fought over the food.

And she watched as the light grew more intense, grew so bright that she could not look at it directly, and she watched what happened to them as it fell over the table, and they began to burn with the colors of the sunset. Golden – yellow for Goku, a pure and sparkling light that had no darkness to mar it. Forest green for Hakkai, as incredibly steady as an ancient pine, and the white of Hakuryu, sleeping next to him on the table, crowned it like snow. Crimson red for Gojyo, dancing and shifting with the restlessness of sunlight across water. For Sanzo, the deepest shade of midnight blue that reflected the sky just after the light had fled… or perhaps just before the light returned.

Once, she had lifted her water glass and paused, startled by what she had seen reflected in it. Deep within the crystal water and the shimmering light, the picture was completed and she stared at it, stunned, for a moment, then set the glass down, shaking just slightly.

She, too, was burning in the sun. For her, the deepest shade of violet, the color of a jewel held up to the light. Miya smiled as she watched her companions, savoring their very presence, haunted by her vision of light.

---

It was completely dark outside when they finally got to desert.

For a while after they finished, no one made any move to get up. Silence had settled over them; even Goku was quiet, happily finishing the food on the plates around him. The others had long moved on to their drinks, just sitting together in comfortable companionship.

It was Sanzo who broke the silence.

"We should get moving," he commented idly. Miya glanced up, momentarily startled to find the kitchen so dark.

"Probably," Hakkai replied, just as lazily, but he only reached out to pet the sleeping Hakuryu affectionately.

"I'd rather beat you all at a game or two of poker," Gojyo remarked with a relaxed grin, then sighed and stretched. "But if we have to go demon – hunting, we'd better get started."

Miya sighed, her own lethargy scattering at Gojyo's movement and stirred. Goku looked up and grinned.

"Demon – hunting sounds like fun to me, what're waiting for?" he demanded, getting to his feet. "Let's go!"

"We shouldn't waste anymore time," Sanzo agreed, getting up as well. Miya inclined her head and stood up also as Hakkai came around the table to join them. "Time to get to work."

Outside, in the pleasantly cool darkness, Sanzo glanced over his shoulder at the group that waited just behind him.

"Where would the demon attack next?" he asked shortly. Miya waited until the others looked at her expectantly, then replied quietly, "The inn, I would think. If they want to frame us, it would make sense that the next victim would be in the only place where we were last night."

Sanzo nodded curtly.

"Hakkai, Gojyo, Miya, you three go there and wait. Make sure that no one sees you. Goku and I will be back toward the main road. If the demon flees, make sure he goes that way."

"Got it." Gojyo adjusted his grip on the crescent – bladed staff he held in his hands. Hakkai nodded and Miya reached back to touch the familiar weight of the steel rod at her waist as she followed them into the darkness.

There were, as usual, only the few lamps in the windows to light the streets, and most of those were behind curtains, leaving everything dim and shadowy. The three companions paused in opening of one of the dark alleys that connected to the square, looking around them warily as they took in the situation.

"I can't see a thing," Hakkai murmured softly.

"I'm going to get a little closer to the inn," Miya breathed, considering the doorway. "Someone might want to go around to the other end of the square, the killer might leave the body outside for the patrons to find when they head home tonight."

"I'll go." Gojyo turned to leave and Miya made a little gesture for him to wait.

"You two can sense demons, too, right?" she asked and smiled when they nodded. "Good."

Hakkai melted backwards into the darkness of the alley. Miya darted out quickly, far enough from the buildings that overlooked the square to make sure that she wouldn't be seen if someone happened to glance out the window and saw, across the street from her, Gojyo doing the same thing as he ran for the space between two other buildings…

A scream ripped through the night, shattering the silence.

Miya spun, her weapon in her hand and her hair swirling around her, startled and confused even as a sinking feeling deep in her stomach told her exactly what was going on. Gojyo was already running toward where the scream had come from, but all around them, curtains were being flung back and doors were opening, and she dived for the nearest shadow, freezing in panic as a woman stepped out in front of her.

"Demons!" someone shouted and Miya waited, not even daring to breathe. The woman ran a few steps forward into the street and Miya took a deep breath and darted behind her soundlessly. She flung herself around the corner into the alley, then paused to lean against the building for a second to give a sigh of relief and let her pounding heart stop beating.

Someone grabbed her from behind and clapped a hand over her mouth before she could scream.

"Come on!" Hakkai snapped in her ear and she nodded, almost weak with relief and let him drag her by the wrist down the alley, away from the square. A whisper of movement behind her caught her attention, however, and she yanked her arm sharply, pointing as he glanced back at her. He nodded and released her and she leapt upwards, following the shape that ran across the low rooftops.

It was a demon. She could feel it and she frowned, wondering why she hadn't sensed him before. He was heading away from the village toward the road and Miya narrowed her eyes and speeded up.

_If he gets to the woods by the graveyard, we'll never find him, _she thought desperately and hoped that one of the others had sensed him and was following.

A figure rose up in front of him, and the demon balked, skidding to a pause on the roof for a moment before looking around him desperately, and for the first time, Miya saw that he had a bundle over his shoulder. Miya caught her rod into her hands and focused her energy, willing it to extend into her kausinge» and aimed for his feet, intending only to bring him down. The figure raised his hands and Miya saw a short pistol glint silver in the moonlight, saw the demon throw a sneering look at her, then he dropped his bundle and flung himself down to the street below.

Miya ran forward, dimly aware that Sanzo too had dived after the demon, and for a heartbeat they both knelt at the edge of the roof, looking downwards.

Their opponent was gone. There were people in the square, milling restlessly and talking among themselves with panicked voices, but none of them looked upset enough to have seen a demon. Miya shook her head and rose to her feet, heading for the bundle he had left behind him.

She didn't need to get to close to know what it would be. There was blood on the roof around the pile of clothes and Miya felt her stomach tighten and steeled herself before reaching out to gently push the fabric aside, revealing the face.

It was a middle – aged woman, her eyes still wide with terror and Miya stood up and turned away in spite of herself, one hand over her mouth and closed her eyes tightly for a moment, trying to steady herself.

"You know her?"

Sanzo's voice was cool and detached. Miya nodded and took a quick breath.

"Yeah. Come on, we need to get out of here."

Sanzo nodded and the two ran, leaving the village behind them.

---

The living room of Miya's house was bright and comfortable; curled up in her favorite corner of the couch, Miya tucked her legs underneath her and reflected with a smile that her house hadn't ever felt quite so much as a home as it did that night.

The other three demons had been waiting by the door when Miya and Sanzo made it back. All of them had been on edge, all too aware of the danger they were in. It wasn't until they had gathered inside that each of them had started to settle down, and by tact agreement, no one said anything about what had happened that night until they were comfortably scattered around Miya's living room.

_Or… perhaps more importantly… until we were all sure that a torch – bearing mob wasn't going to come bashing my door down and trying to lynch us,_ Miya reflected with a trace of irony. It had taken nearly a half – hour before she stopped looking around at the slightest noise outside, and she was pretty sure that she was not the only one.

_Not that they really need to worry about it,_ she admitted. _Not that I really should be worried about it either, for that matter. I mean, come on, it would take a lot more than this one village of humans to seriously challenge any one of us…_

But there was a memory in her mind's eye, a memory that she couldn't shake no matter how hard she didn't look at it.

__

Another mob with angry eyes. Pain in her body that screamed against the fear that surged up in her, and the terrible, sweet knowledge that all she had to do was reach down and they would fall back before her in a spray of crimson, that they would look at her with the fear she knew they could see in her…

"Well, well, good hand." Gojyo's voice pushed the memory back and she looked over to where he, Sanzo and Goku were sitting around a table, each eyeing the pot of brightly colored chips in the center. Goku was watching the other two closely, having apparently already folded; Sanzo's hand was spread out on the table, and he was studying Gojyo with narrowed eyes.

"But…" Gojyo finished, sitting back in his chair with a self – satisfied grin, "not good enough."

"Damn it, that kind of luck isn't natural," Sanzo muttered. Gojyo had collected his chips and the cards and had a rather predatory grin as he asked, "Try again?" Sanzo nodded and Goku added, "Count me in."

Miya smiled to herself and shook her head, looking up as Hakkai came into the room, carrying a bottle and two glasses. He came over to sit on the couch across from her, handing her a cup with a smile.

"I was going to make tea, but it seemed to me like you might need something a little stronger," he explained cheerfully. Miya took a sip, savoring the burn across her tongue and smiled at him.

"You were right. Thank – you," she replied lightly. He settled back, looking thoughtful, then said slowly, "I hate to be the one to bring up an unpleasant topic, but… what the hell happened out there tonight?"

Gojyo, Sanzo and Goku looked up from the table, Goku and Sanzo turning a little so they could see better. Miya glanced down at the glass in her hands and answered quietly, before anyone else could.

"I screwed up, is what happened." She shook her head, not bothering to hide her irritation at herself. "I jumped to the conclusion that I knew what was going on, and I miscalculated because of it."

"What do you mean?" Sanzo demanded and Miya sighed, shifting so she could talk to them more easily.

"It didn't occur to me until I saw who it was that the demon killed tonight," she replied. "I'd just assumed that this was intended to convince the people of the town to try to kill you. I was wrong."  
"You seemed pretty upset when you saw the body." Sanzo was watching her closely. "Was she a friend of yours?"  
"Ironically, no," Miya answered ruefully. "She hated me. She's hated me since I came to this village and she has been very open about it, to me and to anyone else who would listen." She hesitated, then shook her head quickly. "Sorry, more accurate to say that she hated demons in general, and… I was simply the closest demon." She took another sip of her drink. "Come to think of it, and I should have before, I've had trouble with Taro on and off for the last few months as well, while I was working in the inn."

"This isn't about us at all, is it?" Hakkai asked thoughtfully and Miya shook her head.

"No. I don't think it ever was." She shrugged. "Though I could still be missing something. Thing is, if someone wanted to get you killed, they wouldn't have allowed Rikyu to say that you could leave… which is another thing that I really should have realized before now."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, usually it is us that brings the trouble," Gojyo advised casually. "For that matter, why would they wait for us to show up before they tried to frame you? With the attitude these bastards have toward demons, someone could have stirred up trouble long before we got here."

"Gojyo's right," Hakkai said thoughtfully. "I agree that it looks like Miya is probably the target, but this isn't as simple as someone just wanting her dead, we are involved in this too." He glanced over at the table. "What do you think, Sanzo?"

"I think it doesn't matter why it's happening now," Sanzo's words were clipped. "We'll take down the demon tomorrow, and then we'll leave, end of story."

__

He's hiding something. Miya tilted her head to one side, considering him. _He knows something, something that he's not willing to tell us. Or is it that he's not ready? I wonder… could it be possible that he knows…?_

She wouldn't finish that thought, not here and not with them around her. She shook her head quickly, remembering something else that had struck her as strange.

"All right, so here's another question for you. Four demons in this room and one priest and not one of us could sense our killer's presence." She flickered a glance around at them. "Why?"

Everyone looked momentarily thoughtful.

"He has a way to mask it," Goku suggested.

"No, because I felt him after we heard the scream," Sanzo replied absently. "Miya and I caught up with him on the roof but he managed to get away from us. Jumped down into the street, but no one seemed to see him…"

"If a demon's in human form, we can't sense him," Hakkai pointed out thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but this is a town of two hundred people, even human strangers are conspicuous," Miya protested slowly. "Even if he arrived here before you, I would have known that there was someone new around, and if he arrived later, than how did he know who to kill to cast blame on me… or you, for that matter?"

Sanzo made a sudden, sharp movement, and Miya heard the echo of her own words and abruptly understood.

"Damn." Gojyo frowned. "How long have you lived here, Miya?"

"Almost a year." Miya didn't realize she was shaking until she felt liquid splash out of her cup onto her hand.

"Which brings us back to the idea that this was planned out in great detail some time ago," Hakkai finished quietly, then shook his head sharply, looking frustrated. "Damn it! What does he know that we don't?"  
"We're not getting anywhere with this." Sanzo snapped and stood up abruptly, startling all of them. "I'm going to bed."

For a moment after he left, everyone was silent, staring after him in surprise.

"What the hell is _with_ him?!" Goku finally demanded angrily. "Ever since we got here, what is his problem…"

"Yeah." Gojyo's voice was casual underneath Goku's ranting, but Miya did not miss the look that shot between him and Hakkai across the room, or barest trace of irony in his voice as he finished, "What does he know that we don't?"


	5. Miya pt2

Sanzo's departure marked the end of any serious discussion among the others. Goku was getting tired, though not quite enough to go to bed; Hakkai and Gojyo quickly got into a game of mah jong on the coffee table. For awhile, Miya watched, but there were patterns in the pieces, patterns that made a fog around her mind and teased her with thoughts that would not come clear, and it didn't take long for her to quietly excuse herself.

In the kitchen, she looked around her absently as she put a kettle on for tea, struck again by the mark her chance visitors had left on her home. More dishes than she had used in most of the rest of her life were scattered across her table and counters and piled in the sink. The curtains nearest the stove were slightly black from an minor accident she and Goku had making dinner earlier that night. Empty beer cans were piled neatly by the door, and she grinned, recognizing Hakkai's handiwork. Water still pooled on the floor beneath the sink, splashed as Gojyo tried to escape Sanzo's fan after some snide comment when they had gotten home that night.

"I could get used to this," she whispered, then laughed and shook her head. Not so much cleaning it, admittedly, but then, that was never what she had seen…

She sighed and brushed off her thoughts, turning to fill the sink with water and add soap, before crossing to the table to gather up the dinner dishes, humming softly to herself.

"I was just going to offer to do that for you."

Startled, Miya jumped and spun, then smiled. Hakkai was in the doorway; he returned her smile and added, "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

"No, it's just that I thought everyone had gone to bed," she answered honestly. "It was pretty quiet out there."

"Goku went to bed," Hakkai explained with a grin. "That's why it was quiet. I'm not sure where Gojyo wandered off to. I actually thought I'd take care of some of this tonight so you wouldn't have as much to deal with tomorrow." He looked around the room ruefully. "We do leave a mess, don't we?"

"Don't worry about it, I don't mind doing it," Miya answered, meaning it. "It helps me sleep better."

"At least let me help you," Hakkai offered.

"If you want to…" Miya replied, amused and Hakkai headed over to the sink, pushing up his sleeves as he turned the water on again. Miya gathered the dishes together and brought them over to the counter, glancing over her shoulder to make sure she had them all, then reached for a towel.

"Thanks for doing this," she commented quietly, beginning to dry what he had already finished. "I do appreciate it." She paused, then added with a grin, "All of it, not just the dishes."

"I'm just glad we could help you," Hakkai replied quietly and for a moment, they worked together in companionable silence. Miya turned away with an armful of clean plates, putting them away; when she turned back, Hakkai glanced at her and remarked, "Miya, if you don't mind my asking, there's something that I'm a little curious about."

"Go ahead," she replied, surprised.

"You don't have to tell me – it's really none of my business – but I was wondering how you came to live here, in a place like this, you being what you are…"

"The same thing you are," Miya pointed out gently, smiling. "I'm not ashamed of being a demon, Hakkai… though," she admitted, a little ruefully, "to hear the story, you'd think I was. When I first arrived here, the townspeople didn't know I wasn't human, so…" She shrugged. "They let me stay."

"I'm surprised no one noticed your power limiter," he commented mildly.

"An ankle bracelet?" Miya lifted an eyebrow.

"With the people as paranoid as they are, I would have thought that they would have looked for anything that might be a mark of a demon."

"They probably would have…" Miya trailed off, remembering. "I… had been wounded pretty badly not long before and I had just about enough strength to drag myself into the square and collapse. The man who owned the inn at the time, an ancient old guy named Jiro found me there. He took me in and, along with the old woman who cooked and cleaned and the waitress, nursed me back to health. They never asked me any questions and it was… some time before I could say anything about myself. I had nowhere else to go, so he gave me a job at the inn as a waitress and cook and the villagers agreed I could have this little place to live."

"But they did find out you were a demon." Hakkai glanced at her.

"A couple of weeks later, a band of demons attacked," Miya went on quietly. "They were bandits, but… really they just wanted to kill. They got to the inn before I found out about it, and by the time I got there… they had already killed the cook and hurt Jiro pretty badly. I fought and killed them, but that doesn't bring people back and now the whole town knew that I was a demon as well and hadn't said anything. They were pretty close to lynching me, to be honest, but Jiro got their attention and pointed out that I had lived there for almost a month without ever acting like the other demons had and that this situation just proved that having a demon in town to protect it could be useful. He got them to agree to let me stay here and then he died." She paused, putting away another armful of dishes before she went on, "Obviously, some people were more receptive to the idea than others."

"I'm sorry."

Hakkai had turned away from the sink to give her his entire attention, and for a moment, Miya stood facing him, startled at the look she saw in his eyes. It was a look that said more clearly than his words that he had sympathy for her pain because he had lived through his own.

"Don't be," she replied, just as quietly, surprising herself with her words. "It was nowhere near what other people have had to live through. I didn't mean for it to sound as if I was saying that it was."

"No…" Hakkai shook his head, smiling a little. "No, Miya, that's not what I was saying. I didn't mean I pitied you, I just meant that I was sorry you had to live through it, that… that you had to be hurt like the rest of us. That's all."

She turned back to the dishes, smiling.

"It's hard to do anything for anyone you can't at least understand them," she answered quietly. "And if being hurt in the past made it so that you four can be here… It was a small price to pay, Hakkai." She took the last pile of dishes in her hands and turned to look around the room with satisfaction. "Looks like we're done. Or, rather," with a mischievous look at Hakkai, "I'm tired, so it's good enough."

He chuckled. "Well, then, it looks like I'd better let you go to bed. Sleep well."

"Thanks again." Miya smiled as he headed for the door, then, alone again, gave the room one more contented look and went to bed.

---

_It was a familiar dream._

She was standing in the woods, and huge pines rose all around her, whispering softly in the steady breeze. She turned slowly, searching the shadows for any sign of her opponent.

He came out of nowhere, catching her full in the back with his claws and she swore and spun, letting her kausinge snap out, but he was fast; faster than she was, anyway, and she only barely managed to avoid another slash with his claws. She darted backwards, then saw his shadow on the ground and knew where he was going to land and lashed out with the kausinge again, a perfectly timed blow…

He flew backwards into a tree, glared at her with venom, and she stepped forward to look down at him without expression. He had killed the humans of the village where she had stopped at, and she was not about to let that continue. She saw his lips move, but he had no voice and she saw him slump down among the fallen leaves.

She sighed and for the first time took in her own injuries. The slashes across her back ached, and there was a deep gash along her arm that was still bleeding freely. It wasn't until she tried to walk that she realized she was in more trouble than she expected. She had lost a great deal of blood, and she staggered forward to lean against the nearest tree, swearing softly to keep herself focused.

And then she saw the shadows drawing nearer to her and she pulled herself up with the last of her strength, reaching for her kausinge again, but one of them had stepped into the sunlight. It was a man from the town, and she called out to him, relaxing against a tree, relieved, and even pleased to see him.

Except that there was an expression on his face that she didn't understand, and she stared at him, puzzled, as her knees gave way and she sank down against the roots of the pine. And then the others had come, out of the shadows, men she knew from the village, and they stared at her with anger and all of a sudden, she knew what they had meant when they had said that they were going to go demon – hunting.

Her own cry shattered the stillness of the pines, but only the birds heard her, scattering into the sky like petals from a dropped flower.

Miya woke, her own voice echoing in her head, and shot up, clasping the blanket to her as she gasped for breath.

It was a dream. Miya forced herself to sigh, calming herself. It was a dream, nothing more, just a fragment from the past. She sighed again and swept her hair back from her face, turning her closed eyes to the sunlight that poured through the window over the couch.

"Miya, what is it, what's wrong?" Someone burst through the door, and Miya jumped, suddenly unable to tell if she really was awake or still dreaming, and, determined to wake up this time, took a deep breath and tried to scream.

It came out as something between a gasp and an undignified squeak. Truly puzzled now, Miya stared up at the figure who was looking down at her with incomprehension. It was Gojyo, shirtless and not looking too awake himself, but with his bladed staff in hand as he scanned the room.

Miya found her voice.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" she cried, yanking the blanket up around her, far more angry at her own confusion than she was embarrassed.

"You were the one that screamed, what the hell's wrong with you?" Gojyo shouted back at her and Miya blinked and suddenly figured out what was going on.

"I'm sorry." She sighed and shook her head, abruptly irritated with herself. "I was dreaming and I must have cried out, that's all. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Oh." Gojyo looked momentarily taken aback, then grinned at her. "Well, now that I'm here…"

"Get out and let me get dressed!" Miya snapped, laughing as she threw her pillow at him. He ducked it, laughing himself, but pulled the door closed behind him.

Alone, Miya shook her head, still grinning, then sighed, growing more serious as she swung her feet to the floor and reached for her clothes. It had been awhile since she was troubled by those dreams, longer still since they had been so bad that she had trouble figuring out where she was.

__

This demon, the townspeople… I haven't had to think about it, not in a long time and all of a sudden, it's like everything is there just to remind me. Everything but them, and…

And maybe that in itself was simply confirming that it was time to leave, that she had been here too long. Miya sighed and glanced down at the coffee table as something caught her attention.

They had been using her mah jong set, and the pieces from the night before still lay scattered across the table. Miya reached down to pick one up, considering it.

"Enduring partnerships," she murmured aloud and gave a quick laugh, then bent to gather the pieces together quickly, dropping them back in their bag and putting the bag with her kausinge rod. It only took her a moment to comb her hair, then she headed out in search of tea.

The kitchen was empty; Miya reflected idly that Gojyo had probably gone back to bed, hoping to get another hour or two of sleep. Not that she blamed him, after the events of last night, and today wouldn't be much better. They still had some time before the three days were up, but they didn't have any way to figure out which of the townspeople was a demon.

__

People I've known for the last year, Miya reflected, waiting for her water to boil. _Someone in this town knew I was coming, and they got here first and for a year, they've waited. But… why? And how could they possibly have known that Genjo Sanzo and his party would stop here one day, that they would meet me? I didn't even know what was going on until I met them…_

She shook her head, turning away from the thoughts as she reached for a teabag and a cup. As if that wasn't bad enough, there was still Sanzo himself, who obviously knew more than he was saying. She was fairly sure that he suspected what she had come to guess, but until the time came, she could only wait and see what happened.

"I hate waiting," she muttered, and headed outside.

It clearly wasn't going to be as nice out as it had been the last few days; heavy clouds had rolled in and a brisk, cold wind tugged at her hair and chilled her bare stomach and shoulders, and even through long sleeves, she was cold. Something in the wind, though, made her restless, and she wandered down toward the road, clasping her arms with her hands as her eyes turned to where the path disappeared into the distant mountains.

"Hey. I thought you'd come out here."

Miya turned, surprised. Gojyo stood leaning against her large bamboo tree, lazily smoking, and she smiled and wandered over toward him.

"I thought you'd be sleeping," she replied as she joined him.

"Nah." He shot her a quick, amused look. "Between the snoring and the screaming…"

"Oh, shut up," she retorted mildly, smiling, and they stood together silently for a moment.

__

Every inch of her body had ached with the pain of the lacerations across her back, down her arm, with the pain of the bruised muscles and the blows she had taken. Even sitting, the world was swirling a little, so that she couldn't tell if the angry, cold faces that confronted her were multiplied or if there really were that many of them. Sitting there, dazed and frightened, she had nonetheless been confused as well… she had never hidden what she was, had never lied to them about the blood that flowed through her veins.

Miya shook herself sharply, startled at the vivid intensity of the memory. It was the dream that had brought them to the surface, she told herself firmly, not the demon, not the terrible realization that there was a plot around her seemingly to make her live that nightmare again…

"Want to talk about it?" Gojyo wasn't looking at her. Standing next to him under the tree, Miya allowed herself a quick, hard smile.

"Not particularly."

He nodded, didn't say anything else.

__

"I killed him to protect you," she had whispered. Drawing closer to her, the men had sneered.

"You betray your own kind, killing them," one of them snarled. "What's to say that you won't change your mind again?"

"It's… not like that." It wasn't a protest, not really, for it had never occurred to her that they didn't understand.

"There's nothing to tell, really." It was a plea, not to him but to herself, a quiet little plea that her memories would spare her, even though she knew they wouldn't, just as _they_ hadn't.

__

And then, one of them reached out to her and she knew what they were going to do to her and she had reached down, just once. Her fingers had brushed the cold, silver metal around her ankle, the simple silver bangle that was so much a part of her that most of the time, she forgot that she could_ take it off. And for a single moment, she knew the power she had, in her fingers with the silver. They would fall back before her, terror in their eyes, and she could almost feel the exultation of knowing that there was nothing they could do against her…_

And then, deliberately, she had let her fingers slid away, let the bracelet fall back against her ankle, and all she could offer against them was a single, pleading cry.

"It happened when the demons changed, a year ago." She did not look at Gojyo, though she knew he was watching her with silent, unreadable eyes; she let her eyes rest on the mountains in the distance and the wind carry her voice to him. "I'd been on my own for a number of year by then, just… wandering, really. I didn't have anywhere to go home to, so… I would stay in a town for a while, then move on.

"Anyway, a year ago I ended up in a town not far from here. It was bigger than this one, and like this place, it had a fairly large demon population. When the change came…" She trailed off for a moment, then shook her head. "I doubt I could tell you any stories that you haven't already heard. It didn't happen all at once, of course, and that's what really scared people… the person that had been a good neighbor and friend to you one morning ripped out your throat that night. I didn't feel it, though, and that meant that I got to spend a lot of my time hunting down other demons who didn't leave the town, killing them before they killed any more."

She hesitated again, partly remembering and partly searching for a way to explain.

"Killing my own people to protect those that I thought of as my charges," she reflected, softly. "That was how I grew up thinking of humans, how my mother thought and what she always taught my sister and I. We were demons, more powerful than humans, but demons had been created to be humanity's guardians and companions, their older siblings. The demons were my people, yes, but so were the humans in a very different way. And as most demons would have just as soon killed me as looked at me at that point, the choice seemed easy.

"And then, one day, a bunch of the men told me they were going demon – hunting. A rogue demon was running around at night, and he was one of the flesh – eating ones… Anyway, they asked for my help, and I, of course, said yes."

It took her a moment to make sure that she could keep her voice steady, to be sure that her next words would be even and clear. Memories were flashing before her eyes, but it was the road she concentrated on, the distant mountains and the cold, wet wind.

"We found the demon in the graveyard, eating some of the newly – buried human bodies. The men gave chase, and being faster than they were, I went around into the woods, to be sure we didn't lose him there. It didn't take me long to hear the men's shouting and I realized that I was right about what the demon would try to do – he had gotten away from them and was in the woods with me. I found him, hunted him down and battled him in a clearing somewhere. He was fast, more brutal than I expected, and I didn't really have the experience with fighting that I have now… he did a lot of damage to me before I finally killed him.

She stopped again, caught for a moment in that strange and terrible silence that always trapped her when she got to that point in her memories. Never had she spoken of it, never had she told anyone what had happened once the demon was dead. She wasn't completely sure she could now.

Except that it took almost as much effort to stop, and she reached for that part of her, a part she knew well and had learned, over a long lifetime, to trust. It was the soft whisper inside of her that had promised that the four of them would come, that no matter how long as she stayed in the tiny village, the time would come when her path would be clear, and just as she had trusted that little voice to tell the future, she trusted it to tell the past, and all of a sudden, she heard her own voice distantly, pouring out words like water.

"I didn't realize at first how badly I was injured. I had some pretty bad cuts down my back and arm, and I had been beaten up pretty thoroughly, but it was the amount of blood that I lost that was really the problem. I was about to try to stagger back to town when I saw the men come out of the trees. I pointed out the demon's body, figuring that they would be ready to go home. Then I got a good look at their faces.

"The thing is, I'd never realized exactly how angry they were. Not just the men… humans in general. It had truly never occurred to me that they had come to hate all demons, even though I had fought and lived beside them. I hadn't changed and I didn't realize that they had. Maybe most of all, though, I never realized that they had never understood why I had protected them to begin with.

"I thought at first that they were going to kill me. Then I realized that they weren't… or rather I realized that they would, but not immediately. Death brings lust, and they wanted, or maybe needed, to see a demon made as helpless and frightened as they felt, to do something to a demon that would give them vengeance for the violation of trust that they felt the demons had committed. I saw…all of that in their eyes in that moment. And I almost… I couldn't even see straight, I'd lost so much blood, and even if I had been fine, I doubt I could have held them off with my power limiter on, and for one moment, I very nearly…"

"You let them rape you rather than use your power as a demon."

She couldn't hear what was in Gojyo's voice, only the harshness and the words themselves, and she turned to face him for the first time, something flaring in her defiantly.

"No, Gojyo, it wasn't that simple," she snapped sharply. "I would have given anything at that moment to have been what you are so that I didn't have to make that choice. But I did, and if I had taken my power limiter off I would have killed them, and whatever changed the other demons would have changed me. Yes, I chose to let them rape me, because I knew that I would live… and so would they. But don't you _ever_ think that I had forgotten, then or now, what I am."

And then, maddeningly, the tears came, the tears she had never cried in the long days since then, as her body healed and her mind clawed its way back up from darkness. Standing there, wordlessly cursing her own vulnerability, she felt the tears blur her vision and the shaking that threatened to tear her apart.

For a heartbeat, Gojyo stood watching her, and she felt, rather than saw, something startled and vulnerable in his own eyes. It lingered, even as he deliberately dropped the cigarette he'd been holding and ground it under his heel and then he reached out to her.

"Come here."

It was the gentleness in his voice that undid her. Miya took a single, staggering step toward him and Gojyo's arms closed around her and he pulled her against him as her tears broke free at last.

She had no idea how long she sobbed in his arms, shaking harder than she believed possible. She wasn't quite sure when her tears finally stilled, leaving behind a sense of drained, numb, exhaustion that was so complete that all she could do was breathe. It took even longer to realize that the fear that had haunted her for days was gone.

It was Gojyo that she was aware of first. He was stroking her hair slowly, soothing her, and with that, the rest of the world slowly began to take form around her. But she didn't move, and neither did he, and for a long time, the only sound was the wind in the trees.


	6. Sanzo pt1

It was almost noon when Sanzo finally woke up that morning.

Only Goku was still in the bedroom and Sanzo sighed, mildly irritated that no one had thought to wake him up; they still had a demon to catch, and they'd already spent far too long in the village already.

_But you knew that would happen,_ a little voice whispered in his head. _Ever since you saw her, a demon girl untouched by dark magic…_

Sanzo sighed again, the thought only adding to his irritation, and reached down to give Goku a little shake.

"Get up."

Goku rolled over, muttering something about breakfast. Sanzo shook him harder.

"Now, Goku."

"I'm tired, go away." The demon boy buried his head under someone's blanket.

"I don't have time for this," Sanzo muttered and pulled out his fan. It only took three slaps before Goku was more or less awake, glaring blearily at him from behind the blanket he was trying to hide behind.

"What the hell was that for?" he demanded, trying to roll over to go back to sleep. "Asshole."

"Get up, Goku, it's noon." Sanzo headed for the door.

"So? Since when do you get up early?" Goku demanded. Sanzo turned around threateningly and Goku flung up both hands.

"All right, all right, I'll get up, god…"

Sanzo had assumed that the others would most likely have gathered in the kitchen, and he was a little surprised, when he got there, to find only Hakkai pouring out a cup of tea.

"Good morning," Hakkai greeted him and smiled, presumably at Sanzo's expression. "Here."

Sanzo accepted the tea and looked around again.

"Where are the others?"

"Last I checked, Goku was still sleeping," Hakkai replied lightly. "Miya and Gojyo were outside talking when I came out."

"You left Gojyo alone with her?" Sanzo shot Hakkai a quizzical look and crossed to the open back door, looking outside.

Hakkai smiled again, but there was a serious note to his voice as he answered, "Yeah. I don't know what they were talking about, but I get the feeling that we had better leave them alone for awhile."

Sanzo didn't answer, frowning a little as he searched for them. It was only when a gust of wind revealed a sudden spot of crimson red and raven black against the gray that he realized where they were and what was going on.

"He's about to lay her right there. I'm going to kill him, the least he could do is not seduce her after she put us up for the night…" Sanzo started forward, but was stopped by Hakkai's chuckle.

"You do like her after all. I was starting to wonder what your problem with her was, the way you've been acting lately."

"I have nothing against Miya," Sanzo replied shortly, not about to get into what he felt about the girl. "It's the delay that's the problem."

"Maybe so, but…" Hakkai crossed the kitchen to join Sanzo, looking out the door thoughtfully. "We're supposed to be saving humans and Miya's spent a lifetime doing just that. It's possible that being here is somehow important to our quest."

"You think we're here because she needed our help?" Sanzo turned to look at Hakkai questioningly.

"Maybe. Maybe we need hers." Hakkai was still looking outward, his expression unreadable. "Miya is a lot like Goku and Gojyo and I, Sanzo, more so then you think."

_I hate it when he does that,_ Sanzo thought irritably. _I can't tell what he's figured out…_

"It doesn't matter," he replied, turning away from the back door to sit down at the table, saying the words more for himself than for Hakkai. "We'll be gone soon anyway."

Goku, Hakkai, and Sanzo had finished breakfast by the time Miya and Gojyo came inside; Hakkai was already doing dishes and Sanzo was on his third cup of coffee.

"Hey, I just starting to wonder what had happened to you two," Hakkai greeted them cheerfully as they came through the back door.

"We were talking and I lost track of time," Miya replied simply, with a smile for Hakkai, then looked around the kitchen quickly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even think about starting breakfast…"

"No worries, my dear," Hakkai replied lightly. "I'm afraid the three of us didn't wait for you to eat, but I did save you this…"

Miya accepted the tea and the plate he handed her from inside the oven with a grateful look.

"Thanks, Hakkai."

"No problem." He glanced up at Gojyo and added with a grin, "However you, my friend, are going to have to fend for yourself. Goku found your plate."

"Damn it, you little monkey…" Gojyo glared at him.

"I didn't know it was yours when I ate it," Goku protested and Sanzo looked up sharply, startled when Gojyo didn't pursue the fight. He took a closer look at both of them as Miya dropped down in the chair closest to the door and Gojyo leaned on the counter nearby. Miya looked exhausted, and the shadows under her eyes suggested that she'd been crying; Gojyo, for his part, seemed just a little subdued and drained himself.

_Hakkai's making cryptic statements about her, god only knows what she and Gojyo did to each other out there, Goku looks at her like she's his big sister… What is it about this girl?_ Sanzo wondered, not at all pleased with the thought. _It's taken two days for all of them to start acting as if she belongs here._

"We need to decide what we are going to do about this demon," he began abruptly, pushing his other thoughts aside. "Obviously, he's posing as a human somewhere in town and we need a way to find him."

"The demon had to come to the town before Miya, right?" Goku shrugged. "We just ask around and find out who arrived right before she did."

Gojyo reached over with a pair of chopsticks to take something off of Miya's plate.

"What makes you think he got here just before she did?" he asked with his mouth full. "It could be anyone that she pissed off while she was traveling."

"How long have you been on the road?" Sanzo asked, as Miya lifted her plate a little to share it with Gojyo.

"Five years."

"Yeah, but you're forgetting that whatever his plan is, it has something to do with us," Hakkai pointed out, drying his hands and coming over to sit at the table himself. "Our quest only began when the demons started to change. That would make it about a year at the most that he could have known that we would end up here."

"And even that would take some explaining," Miya reflected. She paused to smack Gojyo's hand away with her chopsticks from something she wanted to eat, then glanced over at Sanzo, apparently struck by a sudden thought. "You know, this is probably a bad time to ask this, and you certainly don't have to tell me if it's none of my business, but you never told me what this quest is that you're on."

"We'll explain it to you later," he replied shortly. "So we're back to finding out who came to the village right before Miya." He sighed. "I suppose the best thing to do would be to go and ask around."

"You don't think those assholes are actually going to help us, do you?" Gojyo demanded.

"I can go, at least they know me," Miya offered quietly.

"No. You're the last person that can go, after what happened last night," Sanzo replied. "They're already going to think that you are the killer yourself, they'll try to kill you as soon as they see you. Hakkai, you and Goku are most likely to get answers, you two go."

"I'll go too, just in case something happens," Gojyo commented and Sanzo nodded. Miya drained her tea quickly and rose to her feet.

"Well, if I can't be any help to you, there's some stuff I'd like to get done around here, if you'll excuse me," she said with a smile, and only waited long enough for them to nod before heading deeper into the house.

There was a second of silence after Miya vanished, then Hakkai began slowly, "I don't know if I should mention this, and I didn't want to bring it up when she was still here, but… I think that this may be more than just a way of getting rid of Miya or the four of us. Miya told me a little bit about what happened when she came here, and apparently she faced a similar situation, where the townspeople were nearly ready to kill her for being a demon." He hesitated. "I wonder if this isn't about killing Miya at all. I wonder if the demon's trying to do something else entirely."

"Like what, commit suicide by making her kill him?" Goku demanded doubtfully.

"No, like making her change like the other demons," Gojyo answered sharply. "She told me that she knew that if she killed a human, even to defend herself, she'd become like the others."

"And he wants us to see it happen," Sanzo finished grimly.

"Why would it matter if we saw her change?" Goku demanded, puzzled.

"Think about it," Sanzo snapped. "Could you kill her if she attacked us, or the village?"

"Well, if she was attacking us, I guess…" But Goku didn't sound at all sure.

"I could." There was an edge to Gojyo's voice, but the look in his eyes said that it wouldn't be for the same reasons that he killed other demons.

"I couldn't." Hakkai was very quiet.

"Exactly. We need to make sure that it doesn't come to that." Sanzo stood up. "You three find out what you can in the village."

The three demons nodded, but Gojyo paused at the door.

"What are you going to do?"

"Take care of something here."

---

Sanzo found Miya in the bedroom.

For a long time, he simply stood in the doorway, watching her with narrowed eyes. Miya clearly hadn't realized he was there; she was humming softly to herself, looking cheerful enough, despite the circles under her eyes, as she moved quietly around the room, folding blankets and making the bed.

He didn't know what it was that he was going to say to her. In all honesty, he wasn't even quite sure why he was there at all. It was just that after two days of skirting around the edge of things, he was sick of it, and he wouldn't know anything for sure until he dealt with it. Dealt with her.

All of a sudden, Miya paused, a blanket folded over her arms, and bent quickly to pick something up off the floor. It was a small bag, and Sanzo belatedly realized what it was; someone had found Miya's mah jong pieces in the living room the day before and had taken them into the bedroom to play. For a long moment, Miya stood, simply staring at the bag in her hand, and then, abruptly, she seemed to come to some kind of a decision.

She tossed the blankets to one side carelessly and knelt on one of the mats, shoving everything to one side and smoothing out a place in front of her. She sighed quietly, growing still, and her breathing became steady and perfectly even and Sanzo shifted, startled. She was kneeling in the single, precise beam of sunlight from the window and as it shimmered on her black hair, he could almost _see_ the aura of serene concentration that brought back a rush of memories of the shrine where he had trained…

She reached for the bag without looking at it. The mah jong pieces spilled into her hand and she scattered them before her and the movement had all the surety of a practiced ritual and all the grace of a magical casting. Sanzo jerked without meaning to, stunned at his own moment of sudden anger, that she should be able to perform this ritual that was everything and nothing like the ones he had been trained in, that she should remind him so much of his home…

"You want to think that I'm a fool, don't you?" Her voice startled him and he stared down at her shining black hair. Her words held the soft, wandering quality of a deep trance, but there was a sense of precision to them, a sense that she knew exactly what she was saying. "And yet, you want to know if I can see what they told you, what you have been so determined not to let happen…"

He didn't move.

"They told you that there would be another that you would need on your journey. A demon untouched by the dark magic that swept over this land, a girl whose fate was tied up with your quest. You never wanted to meet me, did you? You never wanted to be faced with the suggestion that there was such a thing as fate."

"Fate is what the weak use to justify their mistakes." He didn't bother to hide his mockery.

"And yet, you _are_ still here."

"Only to find out what it is that you haven't been telling us."

"That wasn't what I meant." For the first time, she looked down at the mah jong pieces scattered across the mat. "You didn't have to help me."

He didn't have an answer for that, either. Miya reached out, picking the stones that had fallen upside down out of the way with swift, sure gestures, setting them aside, then sat back when they were cleared away.

"What is it that you really want of me, priest, that I prove myself to you? Or is it simply that you know that you need to see with the eyes of your heart? You already know that I don't know anything more than you do, that, in fact, I know far less."

He was silent, watching her. She was still looking down at the pattern spread before her, one hand darting swiftly across the stones, marking each step as she made it, then, abruptly, she swept them into the bag. He didn't move as she rose to her feet and turned to face him, meeting his eyes.

"I see a path made clear and the end of an old life," she told him simply. "Mine, Sanzo. That's what I saw when I met you and that's what I haven't told you. In helping you, my path would become clear, and after all this time, that wasn't something I was going to pass up." She tilted her head to one side, searching his face. "But you know why this is happening. It has to do with the fact that you were told that you were going to meet me, doesn't it? You were told that I was going to be important to your quest, but you aren't the only one that knows that and someone is trying very, very hard to make sure that something goes very wrong. That's why this is happening now, after you got here."

_The eyes of the heart…_

"Yes." Sanzo dropped the words into the silence calmly. "That's why the demon is after you and that's why he attacked you now. He believes that you are the one that the Sanbutsushin told me I would meet. I have no idea who he is or what he thinks you are supposed to do, but I suppose we can ask him that when we catch him."

It was Miya's turn to wait silently, watching him, and he sighed.

"No, I didn't want to meet you, and no, I didn't particularly want to find out whether or not you were supposed to help us. I still don't. As far as I am concerned, we got involved with you by chance. We'll make sure that you don't get killed, but after that you're on your own, got it?"

She was smiling, humor sparkling in her amethyst eyes as if he had somehow said exactly what she expected – or wanted. Sanzo turned on his heel, not about to get into any further conversation with her.

_She's nothing special,_ he told himself, heading outside. _Just a young demon girl that someone thinks is important enough to kill. That's all._

A demon girl who hadn't suffered a change. A demon girl who had become close to his companions so fast it was unsettling. A demon girl who could see the unseen.

_The eyes of the heart…_

"Damn it!"


	7. Miya pt3

The mob arrived almost before the demons did.

It was the shouting that first warned Miya that something was wrong. In the house, cleaning absently as she turned her conversation with Sanzo over in her head, Miya heard the sound of angry voices on the wind and ran for the door, her kausinge in hand.

The townspeople were gathering around the house. Miya darted forward to join the other four, standing loosely back to back and asked dryly, "I don't suppose you managed to figure out who the demon is, did you?"

"Unfortunately, the mob had already started to gather when we got there," Hakkai replied grimly. "We could still run."

"We could just kill the fucking bastards." Gojyo was clearly fed up with the whole situation.

"Better yet, I could shoot them all in the knee. The one that explodes is the demon," Sanzo suggested icily and Miya briefly grinned at the thought.

"Kill the demons," someone shouted, separating himself from the crowd, clearly the leader, and Miya's eyes narrowed. It was the man with Tanaka, who had threatened her the day before, and, abruptly angry, Miya shouted, "What the hell is this, Rikyu, you said we could have three days!"  
"Three days so you could kill more of us?" He turned cold, self – righteous anger on her, pitching his voice so that it would carry to the crowd. "We know what's going on, Miya. You hired these demons to kill the people that saw what you for what you really are: a monster with a pretty face."

"You're an idiot, Rikyu, and you always have been," Miya snapped, disgusted. "Does that even sound to you like something a demon would do? You had better believe that if I wanted to kill any of you, I would have done it myself!"

"She admits it!"

"Kill her and her friends!"

"Murders!"

"That wasn't very helpful," Sanzo snapped at her. "Which one of them is the demon?"

"How the hell should I know?" Miya cried. "If I did, I would have told you, believe me."

"Stop arguing and _think_," he shot back harshly. "You know which one it is, now figure it out."

"Damn it, Sanzo, I…"

__

"What is it that you really want of me, priest, that I prove myself to you? Or is it simply that you know that you need to see with the eyes of your heart?"

Her own words came back to her and she froze. Sanzo was watching her with clear, cold blue eyes that saw through her and dimly, she was aware that the crowd had surged toward them, that Gojyo and Goku were fighting off the people nearest to them, knocking them out, and that the crowd was growing angrier. Hakkai had backed up a step to protect the two of them, but very soon, they would have to deal with everyone, unless…

__

"Sanzo, she can't, if she's wrong, we'll lose her too," she heard Hakkai say sharply, and Sanzo answered, "We'll just have to risk it."

_The eyes of the heart…_

She reached for the stillness inside of her, focusing herself as she had a thousand times before, holding on to the question as she searched for the answer…

_The faces of men that she knew, humans that she had lived alongside for months, their faces twisted with hate and anger as they advanced on her where she huddled in the roots of a tree…_

"No!" Miya staggered backwards, stunned. She had forgotten the fears of the last few days, had forgotten the dream that had haunted her the night before.

_Why now, what the hell is happening to me?_ she thought desperately, and fought to find that stillness again, concentrating on the question.

_…huddled in the roots of a tree, as the men advanced on her, and she let her hand drop away from her power limiter. Dizzy and sick from the lack of blood, she let her head fall back against the tree and saw the body of the demon she had killed, across the clearing from her…_

"I don't understand," she whispered, confused. "That was a different demon, a different town, a different mob…"

_… the body of the demon she had killed…_

"Better yet, I could shoot them all in the knee. The one that explodes is the demon."

…the body_…_

The faces of the men, so familiar to her… familiar because one of them stood before her now…

"You BASTARD!!"

She leapt upwards, kausinge already extending around her, well aware that – in human form – there was no way he could escape her. Rikyu had fallen back a step at her cry, his eyes widening, then he reached for the chain around his neck and as he yanked it free, his form began to blur. She knew her kausinge would miss and she landed lightly and spun. The crowd, stunned by her attack and Rikyu's transformation had fallen back and she heard someone scream.

The others were already there, backing her up. Goku and Hakkai were behind the demon, and it was Gojyo who knocked him to the ground with a single, well – aimed punch. Then Sanzo stepped forward, demon – banishing gun in hand.

"You know what this is?" he asked casually and Rikyu snarled, but his eyes were frightened. "Good," Sanzo went on, unruffled. "Then talk before I use it."

"And tell you what?" the demon sneered, but Miya had come up next to Sanzo, her kausinge coiled in her hand.

"You came here intending to kill me almost a year ago," she stated coldly. "Why, and why did you wait so long before you tried?"

"I vowed I'd break you the day you tried to take me down the first time," the demon sneered. "I _would_ have done it earlier, but you pissed someone important off and they paid me a lot of money to wait and do it in front of Sanzo and the other filthy traitors he travels with."

"Who hired you?" Sanzo asked coolly. Rikyu sneered again.

"Like I would know that. They used an agent and I didn't ask questions." He grinned cruelly. "I saw what happened to her out there, after she thought I was dead. She'd hunted down so many demons, I figured she deserved another taste of what it was like to be hunted herself. Then the agent who hired me said that if I could get her to kill a human, she'd switch to the demons' side, and that made it all the sweeter – betrayed by her own people, just like she did to us. All I had to do was kill a few humans that didn't like her and watch them go after her, all over again. " He spat at her feet, then grinned again. "If I was lucky, maybe before she killed them, the humans would use her again and I'd get my turn…"

"That's enough," Sanzo said and fired.

Rikyu shattered in a burst of darkness. Miya allowed herself a little sigh and stepped back, snapping her kausinge back into a slender rod, then turned, feeling the others gather around her as they took in the crowd.

"Are you satisfied?" Sanzo demanded coldly.

Most of the people cowered backwards. A few looked openly uncomfortable.

"Well, she is a demon, you can't really blame us…" the nervous man from the day before began, then trailed off awkwardly.

"Stupid shits, when are you going to learn that you can be as bad as any demon?" Gojyo snapped.

"It doesn't matter." Miya pitched her voice to carry. "You saw the real killer. I trust that you have nothing more against Sanzo and his party."

"No." It was Tanaka who stepped forward, meeting Miya's eyes steadily. "You have proven your innocence, Rin Miya and no one here will dispute that. And… thank – you."

Miya nodded curtly.

"Then I'm leaving here tomorrow," she finished simply, "and I won't return."

---

The crowd had dispersed quickly after her announcement. A few people had come up to her, offering her a quiet apology, or, from some that she had been closer to, their well – wishes. Miya had accepted them simply, without fuss, for she wasn't angry. She was tired, though, and had been more than a little relieved to follow the other four into the house.

They had ended up in the kitchen. Outside, it had begun to rain again and night was falling quickly. Miya had turned on the lights and turned to face the others, who were starting to stir, and knew that they were just starting to think about moving on.

"I know you're in a hurry," Miya said with a smile, "but it's late, you still haven't actually told me what your quest was about, you haven't eaten, it's raining, it's a long drive to the next town and as I said before, the road isn't safe. I'll be here until morning, so…"

"Yeah, we can stay one more night, can't we, Sanzo?" Goku finished eagerly.

"She does have a point about the road," Hakkai added, a rather mischievous sparkle in his eye. "I don't know how much more unexpected shit I can take tonight."

"And we don't know if we'll find another place to stop," Gojyo added. "Especially not one with a beautiful girl to wait on our every need…"

Hakkai began to laugh. "You may find a beautiful girl here, but I'm pretty sure she'd not going to wait on you at all, my friend."

Gojyo grinned. "Maybe she has a need that needs filling."

"Heh, like you'd be able to help," Goku snickered.

"Just what the hell are you trying to say, monkey – boy?"

Miya leaned back against the counter, smiling, but her attention on was on Sanzo. He hadn't said a word since they had gotten back inside, and now he sat at her kitchen table watching them all with irritation, but he also hadn't made a move to get up…

She hadn't quite told him everything, before. Watching him, Miya wondered if he knew it. She hadn't lied to him, and she hadn't left anything important out of the things that she told him that she had seen – or perhaps felt was the better word for it. It was simply that there was a detail that she was fairly sure he wasn't ready to hear, that, if he suspected it himself, was nonetheless something best left unspoken. Miya was fairly sure she understood what it was that she was to do for them, what it was that they had come for.

_But he can still walk away._ The thought was quiet, serene. _He can still insist on destroying any hint of fate and make the choice that will prove – at least to him – that this was all nothing more than coincidence… whether it truly was or not._

She was fairly sure that, somewhere, he knew it to. Sanzo met her eyes for a moment, and she waited silently for his decision, as she had before. Abruptly, he turned a warning glance on the others.

"We leave _first thing_ tomorrow morning, understand?"

Everyone settled in quickly for the night.

The evening passed even faster than Miya expected, made considerably more pleasant by the knowledge that they were in no definite danger. She and Hakkai made dinner, while Goku looked over their shoulders and got in the way and Gojyo and Sanzo played poker on the kitchen table; over the meal, they told her about their quest, about the demon god and the dark magic that was trying to revive him, the dark magic that had corrupted the demons. Later, they lingered over desert and their drinks in her living room, gambling and talking. No one really seemed to want to go to sleep; Miya herself wasn't sure when the conversation she'd been in slipped into a dream.


	8. Sanzo pt2

It was early the next morning when Sanzo awoke.

The little living room was bright with morning sunlight and it took Sanzo a moment to remember where he was and what was going on. Everyone seemed to have fallen asleep wherever they'd been the night before; Sanzo himself had fallen asleep sitting up in the chair he'd pulled over to the coffee table. Goku, he saw, was sprawled on the floor nearby, still snoring, while Gojyo was draped over the more comfortable chair. Hakkai was asleep in one corner of the couch and Sanzo glanced over to where Miya had been, across from Hakkai.

But Miya was gone.

---

"Do you think she left already?" Goku asked, a little sadly.

The four companions paused in the kitchen one last time before heading out, looking around at the place that had been their home for the last two days, and Miya's for the last year. Miya herself hadn't appeared that morning, while the others gathered their things and ate a quick breakfast. There had been no note, though her kausinge and her mah jong pieces were gone; everything had been left neatly cleaned up, showing no sign that she had ever lived there at all.

"Probably. She said she was going to go this morning, she probably wanted to get an early start," Hakkai guessed. "It is a shame, we never got to thank her for everything that she did for us."

"Yeah." Gojyo shrugged, though there was a trace of disappointment in his eyes. "Oh well. Maybe we'll run into her again."

"I doubt it," Sanzo answered briefly, trying not to show his relief. Miya's disappearance had made things easy for him, and he felt a moment of gratitude to her for that. There would be no call to decide if she was the demon the three heads of heaven had told him about and no need to decide just what that meant if she was.

"Come on," he added, turning away. "Miya's gone and we need to go too."

Outside, they headed for the jeep, waiting for them just a little up the road; Hakuryu knew the drill well and had transformed long before, as usual. It wasn't until the four companions got closer that they saw what the bamboo tree had been hiding.

Sanzo stopped dead. "No. Absolutely not."

In the back of the jeep, one leg folded over the other and propped on the seat ahead of her, wearing a wicked smile, sat Miya.

"You four take forever to get ready in the morning, you know that?" she greeted them cheerfully. "I've been waiting with Hakuryu, here, for more than an hour."

"Oh, so _that's _what you meant when you said you were leaving in the morning," Hakkai called, grinning, but there was far too much laughter in his eyes for his surprise to be real and Sanzo glared at him.

"Hey, does this mean you're going with us?" Goku demanded, clearly delighted.

"No, it doesn't," Sanzo answered before she could and Miya's dancing violet eyes flickered to his.

"You need me," she stated simply.

"No," Sanzo shot back, "we don't."

"All right, then." She tilted her head to one side, eyes still sparkling. "Let's just say you could use me."

"Let's not," Sanzo retorted.

"Hey, speak for yourself." Gojyo was grinning.

"Damn it, Sanzo, will you just once drop your ego?" Miya demanded, laughing. "Screw fate. You know as well as I do that it doesn't matter at all if I'm the demon that you were supposed to meet or not. I can fight as well as anyone here, I can cook better than anyone here, and I can see things that you can't, and you may not like that, but it'd be helpful and you know it. Besides, where exactly is a demon like me supposed to go at this point? Until we finish this quest, I'm not going to be able to find a home, and if I am going to spend the next however many years wandering, I am damn well going to do it for a reason." Her voice softened a little. "Preferably with a group of people like me." There was knowing in her eyes as she added gently, "It doesn't mean they won, Sanzo."

For a second, he held her gaze, his irritation at the situation she had put him in warring with his irritation that she should have been able to read him so well. And yet…

Her second sight would give them insights that would be helpful, that would save them time. Certainly she was right about another fighter being useful, with the number of assassins sent after them at any one time. And he couldn't deny her last point: like all of them, she really didn't have any place else she could go.

No, they didn't need her.

But there was also the look in the eyes of his three companions. Whatever he decided, they'd abide by it and stick with him, however much they complained. At the same time, he'd already seen the way that they looked at her, all of them, as if she was already part of them. And… for a moment, every now and again… he'd forgotten that she wasn't.

"Just remember that I reserve the right to kill you with any of the others."

He stalked forward to his seat in the jeep. Miya grinned and resettled herself, leaving room for the others, but he caught the look she gave him, expressing her gratitude more clearly than words. The others had followed him, taking a moment to get comfortable before Hakkai, in the driver's seat, glanced over his shoulder and asked, "Everybody ready?"

Goku, between Miya and Gojyo, grinned. "Let's go!"

Gojyo gave him a thumbs up. Miya nodded, still smiling. Hakkai called, "Go ahead, Hakuryu."

They weren't out of sight of the village yet when Sanzo remembered something.

"Miya, what were the dangers on the road you were talking about?"

"Oh, that. There are a couple of groups of demon bandits around here that cause problems every now and again."

"_That_ was what was stopping us from leaving the first night?"

"Well… there are a lot of them."

"I hate you."

"I know."

And so the jeep drove off into the morning sunlight.


End file.
